A common frustration I hear these days is that those working from home are tired of the numerous online meetings.
Virtual working and online meetings can affect the attention span and concentration.
In such an environment, how can you get and sustain your managers’ attention?
How can you be someone they want to listen to?
1. It can start with your conduct in the previous interactions you have had with your manager. Ensure that whenever you get your managers’ time, they go away thinking that you and your contribution were worthy of their time.
How can you do that?
Prepare well for the meeting. Be aware of the objectives of the meeting, and how you can contribute to achieving those objectives.
Go with solutions to problems rather than just the problems themselves. Managers love to make quick decisions when possible. So if you go with a few solutions or suggestions to the problems, it makes it easier for them to select an option and help with a decision.
Avoid bringing up trivial issues. At the same time, it is also important to convey that you took care of problems in your area of work. So try to be succinct when communicating such issues. This creates the positive impression that you are owning up, are in control and utilize time effectively.
In your one to one meetings, highlight what you have achieved since last time you met and which of their feedback you had implemented. This gives them the impression that you value their feedback and are serious in implementing it. They then feel motivated to meet you again.
2. Schedule shorter meetings when possible. If you can discuss an issue in 10 minutes, please schedule only 10 minutes.
3. In an online group meeting, avoid questions which are not relevant to the whole group and waste their time.
4. Use online meeting tools like “Raise Hand” when you want to speak up. This is an important tip for the Introverts out there too. Your manager would know that you have a question or opinion or contribution to make.
5. Support and build on others’ ideas if the ideas add value to the discussions. This brings out the collaborative leadership within you and a manager would appreciate that within the team
You should give your manager or leader the impression that whenever you interact, you are adding value to them and yourself.
Next time, it will get you the necessary attention you are looking for.
Author: Johncey George is a Leadership and Life Coach accredited by International Coaching Federation . He focuses on working with Introvert Professionals, helping them grow as leaders by unleashing their potential.
He helps introverts celebrate their strengths and become successful as leaders. Being an introvert himself, he understands their thinking process. He combines this knowledge, his corporate leadership experience and his coaching experience to help create more leaders among the Introverts.
Johncey has 23 years of corporate leadership experience and done his BE and Management Education from IIM Bangalore, Harvard Business School, ISB Hyderabad.
His company, Johncey George Consulting Pvt Ltd, does Leadership Development through Coaching, under the brand Coach Johncey (www.coachjohncey.com)
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