Meeting a client, potential business partner or presenting a proposal? Conducting a business lunch meeting is an important way to build relationships. But what do you want to accomplish in the meeting? Are you looking for a decision on a particular matter that the company is facing? Need to come up with strategies? A meeting must have a specific and defined purpose and the first thing you need to know is your audience (Neal, 2014).
Know Your Audience
In Deborah Waltenburg’s article, “How to Write a Business Email to Set Up a Lunch Meeting”, discusses how to begin the process of setting up a lunch meeting for business purposes and helpful tips to consider when you are setting up the meeting. When inviting someone to lunch, be respectful of his or her time and if the purpose of the meeting is serious, you will need to make that clarification. Determine whom you are inviting and see if they are available on the date you specify. Notify people in advance and make sure if the selected invitees will be available on that day and proceed to ask them to keep their plans open while plans are being finalized. Sending an invitation by email can be a fast and adequate way of coordinating the event, but the tone of your email must adapt to whomever you are inviting to the meeting. For example, a casual tone is appealing if your lunch meeting is with staff members. Meetings like that will spend most of the time discussing plans and brainstorming. Use the body of the email to explain the requirements of the lunch meeting and what you would like members of the party to bring or share to the meeting.
Manage Time
There are other things to keep in mind while you’re setting up a lunch meeting such as time and efficiency. In Neal Hartman’s article, “Seven Steps to running the Most Effective Meeting Possible”, one of the seven steps he talks about is the importance of managing time for meetings. Set a time frame for the meeting as it keeps people’s engagement from falling. Long meetings tend to make people lose engagement and focus, so you want to be mindful about time.
Pick A Location
Next is the location of the meeting. Consider their preferences and try to accommodate to their needs such as allergies. Depending on the number of invitees, a restaurant would be the best choice for the meeting and you would also want to look into a facility that has an exclusive room available. It is best to be able to comprehend everyone’s conversation without being strained by outside noise. You will want to call the restaurant of choice and set up the reservation and let them know you may need to adjust a few things such as the number of attendees closer to the date. Notify the place of choice about any changes as soon as possible so that the staff can accommodate to your needs.
The Bill
The person who is conducting the meeting should generally handle the bill. When handling the bill, you want to be graceful about picking up the check. You want to act natural when it’s time to pay, and you do not want to disrupt the conversation or make your guests feel uncomfortable. If there’s any problems, excuse yourself so you can talk to the waiter.
The Follow Up
The last thing to do after the meeting is to have a follow up. People have different interpretations of what happened and you want to have their feedback. Create a document or email highlighting key points of what happened in the meeting and how everyone contributed. Did everyone chime in their ideas to the conversation? Are there any tasks or deadlines that need to be met by a certain date? Having a follow up helps reassure everyone is on the same page while keeping track of what needs to be done and who is responsible for each task.
Conducting any kind of meeting can be stressful, but with the right steps to guide you to make a successful meeting, you’ll be able to create any meeting with confidence. “Meetings truly can be valuable and productive. You just have to take the steps to make them that way”.
Tips on How to Gain More Connections:
Tips on How to Gain More Connections
Networking [People networking with speech bubbles.]. (2015, July 15). Retrieved From http://morganconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/networking.jpg
How to Speak up at Meetings
Frisch, B. and Cary G. (2016, Feb 19). How to Get Staff to Speak up at Meetings. Retrieved from www.irishtimes.com/business/work/how-to-get-staff-to-speak-up-at-meetings-1.2539912.
Hough, J. (2014, Feb 18). The Value of Speaking Up at Meetings. Retrieved from https://blog.cetrain.isu.edu/blog/bid/336513/The-Value-of-Speaking-Up-at-Meetings.
Storytelling: More Than Just Entertainment
Bullas, J. 4 Powerful Ways To Use The Art Of Storytelling. Retrieved from https://www.jeffbullas.com/4-powerful-ways-to-use-the-art-of-storytelling/
How To Conduct A Lunch Meeting
Mayne, Debbie. (2018, December 8) Proper Etiquette For All Occasions. Retrieved from https://www.thespruce.com/social-etiquette-tips-1216646
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