Meeting Etiquette

As business owners we all have our days full of many things. We work, we have family obligations, and we try to grow our businesses. The last is done through going to meetings, networking, sending out emails, and much more. When we finally fall into bed at night, we’re tired and weary. There is just too much to do in a day’s time.

One of the things I’ve noticed lately, however, is that people will plan on going to meetings – they will rsvp or at least tell the organizers of the meetings that they plan on being there, and then at the last minute, they are a no-show. To them, it may not make a big difference, except that in their very busy day they either overbooked, or were just too tired to make it to the event. However, it’s an entirely different story for the organizers of the event.

Put yourself in their shoes. There is generally a price to pay for the room to hold the meeting, as well as food and drink purchased for a certain number of people based on the prior information given. The others there count on the presence of each and every person to make the meeting a true success for without people there can be no networking.

It is simply a matter of fairness that if you acknowledge acceptance of an invitation you follow through. There may be a situation arise where you cannot go forward with your plans but a simple phone call saying you’re sorry should not be that difficult. It is a sign of the times that we simply don’t think of the other side of an equation, when in fact that is the most important side.

Please, think about the overall picture when you plan on going to events or meetings. It will only serve you better in the long run.

The Times They Are A'Changing

The lyrics of a song by Chris Rea go something like this:

Changing times cold hard rain/Everything's a changing/Nothing's gonna be the same
You'd better look out/'Cos you can't stop these changing times/Nothing going ever to be the same
You'd better look out/Look out for these changing times

Change is probably the scariest thing that can happen to people – and even the thought of change makes many stop, dig in their heels and state “I’ll think about that tomorrow.” We like living in our worlds – all neat and tidy, where we know what to expect and have our routines down pat. But, unfortunately, part of the world that we all live in is the inevitability of change. We can’t stop it, no matter how hard we try.

Recently, as many of you know, I moved back to small town USA after being away for many years. To me, home for the past 30 years has been Washington, DC – where everyone is bustling and the business world is ever changing. It’s hard to keep up and in order to succeed, you need to be ready for change at any given moment. It’s a rough existence at times, but people learn to adapt and to move forward – or sideways – when the need arises. But even there, we find ourselves in ruts and old routines that are hard to give up.

Risk and change are often synonymous in many people’s thoughts. “Things are going ok now. What’s going to happen if I do something different? Will I hurt my business?” They are afraid of what the future might hold if they change the least little thing – yet, without that change, business stagnates.

Perhaps your business seems to be running fine. You’re making money: you have satisfied customers, and you feel like you’re ahead of the game with your marketing. But are there things that you’d like to do that you never seem to have time for? Do you have goals but never seem to move forward with any of them? Is there a type of other business that you’d like to network with, but maybe you’re afraid that they might make it harder for you to succeed in your company? What’s stopping you from completing any of these items? Is it that you’re afraid of change? Maybe it’s time for you to say, “Oh what the heck. Let’s give it a shot. Change is happening anyway.”

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The Little Engine That Could

One of my favorite stories as a child was about a little train that couldn’t make it up the hill like the big trains around him; but then he gave himself confidence by saying “I think I can, I think I can” and eventually up that hill he went. That’s what I think is needed in the business world today – at the very least for the small business owner out there, me included. We all have to have a sense of accomplishment and know that we’ve got to put in our best efforts to get something back out. A quote I read the other day went like this: “Half of success in life is showing up, and the other half is not quitting too soon.” That’s exactly on the head – we need to just keep telling ourselves, “I think I can, I think I can.”

What are some things that we need to have in order to be successful in our businesses? First and foremost, we MUST NOT give up. There are days when we just don’t want to get out of bed. We can’t face another frustration or piece of bad news. We just want to say “The heck with it – I’m outta here.” But that doesn’t solve anything does it? We have to have faith and patience. We need to tell ourselves that things will get better; the economy will come around, or people will eventually learn about our business and flock to our front doors.

However, we need to have more than just that faith and patience. We can’t just sit at our desks and wait for the phone to ring. If we encounter an obstacle, we have to figure out how to get around it. We need to use our imagination and see what other means we have to get the job done. We must continue with our marketing and networking – don’t be afraid of the unknown. Take a leap of faith and get out there and let people know who you are and what your business can do to help them.

It is also important to understand that you can never stop learning and trying new technology. Don’t let yourself become stagnant; again, sitting there and praying is not going to get the job done. Try new things, learn new techniques for growing your market. It will all help in the long run