Tag Archives: surprise

TNF #048: Surprise, surprise!

Welcome Professionals…

…do you like a good surprise? A nicely wrapped up birthday present or your favourite dinner cooked for you when you didn’t expect it? Winning the lottery when you haven’t even played?

Seriously, a good surprise can be nice. In private. Not in business. I don’t like to be surprised in a business context. I like to be prepared and I like to allocate my time consciously.

Yet, there are quite some people around me who seem to think that a surprise is a good idea. They like to confront a group of people with a brand new concept. They turn around a personal 1:1 meeting to a completely different topic. They show PowerPoint presentations with animated items flying in at each push of a button. Handing over each bullet point one-by-one like a little gift.

Surprise, surprise

I don’t really feel entertained by these kind of surprises. I think this is inappropriate in a business environment. The attention span of every person in business is diminishing. We need to concentrate and focus. And we need to prepare properly.

Why not sending the agenda in advance? Why not sharing the document well ahead of the meeting? Why not sending a welcome note 24 hours before the introductury meeting with a short bio and some questions to be answered during the meeting.

Not a big deal? I think so, too.

Malte

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