The meeting monster: The “All the Time in the World” Type.

Characteristics:
You may not be quite sure how this meeting has come about. As it approaches you may have found
yourself wondering why you agreed to it. You often have no idea what, if anything is likely to come
from it. Exploratory meetings are fine, and can yield great results- but we all need to watch out that
we aren’t using too much of our time drinking coffee talking about things which aren’t really work.

They might:
• Tell you their life story
• Pump you for information or intel

Don’t:
Feel guilty when you have the odd meeting with no direction, its fine to chat, make connections and
not treat every meeting as a sales pitch. Equally, don’t feel guilty when you say no to meetings,
where you aren’t sure you can justify the time.

Do:
• Ask for clarification about what meetings are about when you set them up.
• Set time limits.
• Ask directional questions “How do you think we could help each other?”
• Help people out, provide information and give advice if asked- but not beyond the limits of what works for you commercially.

Remember, most people are nice, and most meetings will go smoothly if you prepare, but some of
the people you meet (hopefully the tiny minority) may be rude, inexperienced at meetings, or even
nervous and this can affect their behaviour in meetings. You can’t (and shouldn’t) try to control their
behaviours, but you can control yours.

Met any meeting monsters recently? Tell us how you handled them!