Do you know their expectations

At the most recent meeting you were in, or you led or facilitated, did you find out what people's expectations of the meeting were?

I know we're often under time pressure - and senior leadership pressure - to 'just get started' with the meeting, but asking about people's expectations is still one of the best things you can do in the early parts of a meeting.

Rather than worrying about hidden agendas popping up during the meeting, or struggling throughout the meeting to keep things on track, finding out about expectations up front is a brilliant pre-emptive move.

Don't downplay or devalue it; it really does help get a lot of information 'out on the table' and helps get clear about why we're all here.

We have expectations at restaurants, of holidays, at weddings and of training, books, customer service and relationships. Why not expectations of where our time is being requested - the workplace meeting?

Spend a little time early on in your next meeting hearing people's expectations, and you'll soon find out if it's going to be a big job to get everyone on the same page, or if you're nearly, almost, already there.