How to prepare for a big meeting?

June 21, 2017 8:49 PM

How should I organize/prepare for an important, adversarial meeting where my role is to supply facts, details and fill in any gaps while the higher-ups argue?

I've been shepherding this project for a few years and I know it better than anyone else (not perfectly, though-- I have to look stuff up). Now, people above my pay grade will be meeting to negotiate. I will be consulted as a reference and/or will chime in when necessary. I'd like to be perfectly prepared, with everything in my head or in front of me, nothing on a computer. It's a fairly large project, broken into several dozen parts; it'd take about 50 pages to summarize, and almost every part involves a ton of documentation, contracts, etc. I'm interested both in mental preparation techniques as well as physical (like, how I should organize my notes, the binder with all my papers, etc). Thank you!

posted by acidic to Work & Money (15 answers total)

Well, the easy answer, when you're the person who needs to have all the facts, is to have all the facts immediately available in a way that they can be quickly referenced, and the best way to do that is with a computer, which is why we have them.

If you're honestly not allowed to have a computer, then is there any way you can get some advance notice of the "gist" of the meeting? That way you can take e.g. the top 10 things that will likely be discussed, and the rest of it you can deal with via the always-appropriate "I don't have that immediately to hand, but I can find out quickly and get it to you."
posted by turbid dahlia at 9:20 PM on June 21, 2017 [2 favorites]

A computer is best so you can project as needed to disseminate the information.
posted by crazycanuck at 9:21 PM on June 21, 2017 [4 favorites]

In addition to being generally prepared to talk about the project you should attempt to get an agenda for the meeting or the areas that are contentious. That is what I would use to drive where I spent extra time reviewing and preparing.
posted by mmascolino at 9:42 PM on June 21, 2017 [2 favorites]

Rehearse mentally, identify the arguments, on both sides and facts needed to support both. Actually visualize the different scenarios in your head and write them down, and what's needed to prepare for each one.

Is it possible to rehearse live with 1-2 people?

Prepare as you would for an interview.
posted by artificialard at 9:43 PM on June 21, 2017 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I'm allowed to use a computer (no projecting needed), but I promise it is not the solution here. Excellently-annotated and flagged documents on hard copy is what helps me answer questions fast, not scrolling or searching through documents on the computer. And in this particular situation, if it's something that I theoretically can find out, I'd damn well better already have it as I've had years to do so already-- there will be no follow-up meeting. This is going to be a long event, perhaps spilling over into several days, and my concern is not the top 10 things that will be discussed, but rather the hundreds of little details. I'm sure someone out there has a similar job-- what's your secret?
posted by acidic at 10:19 PM on June 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

Is there any possibility of accompanying the discussions with graphs or diagrams to underline and illustrate the points being made? This is the kind of thing Keynote and Powerpoint can be useful for.

You didn't mention how much time you have. You say you'd need 50 pages to summarize it – can you do that, and both print it up and have it available on screen for yourself or others to consult?

Writing an outline will also help you focus your own ideas and make them more complete, and might help you locate and fix any remaining gaps in your grasp of what sounds like a complicated topic.
posted by zadcat at 10:49 PM on June 21, 2017

Best answer: I would make an outline of no more than ~3 pages and put together a big honking binder with tabs that index to the outline so you can quickly find what you're after.

I would probably also put together a ~10 page summary with salient points in bold so I could find the quick support, and then turn to the binder for the full support.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:58 PM on June 21, 2017 [15 favorites]

I have several ideas, but I don't know if they apply to you. I think it is really important to look for areas that might stress you out from the beginning and find strategies to reduce your stress so you can make a good impression. Identify these in your introduction and then they are out in the open and not hidden inside in your fears.

First, will you boss be at the meeting? If so, it might be a good idea to communicate with your boss what his/her expectations are for you? Perhaps it is even a good idea to communicate some signals with your boss so that your boss can quickly tell you if your answers for questions are enough, if you are going into too much detail, etc...

Then, you said that this might be adversarial and the discussions might be heated. I think it might be a good idea if you, during you introduction, explain that you want to provide the best answers for the higher up's work, but that you don't always know what these answers are and give the people permission from the beginning to interrupt you so that they can stop you and redirect you if you are giving too much info or the wrong info. If you give them permission in the beginning, then these interruptions are not attacking you, but rather doing something that you have asked them to do - following you instructions!. This will really improve the atmosphere. Say something like "I don't know you priorities and want to make the best use of your time. It could be that you already have the answer for a question you've asked and I am still talking. In this case, please interrupt me."

It might be a good idea to make a lot of copies of important documents that you can hand out to the group as you give answers. Some people prefer to read, rather than listen or look at a presentation. This way, the group will be focused on the papers while you answer questions and are less likely to attack or interrupt you if they don't understand immediately.

Please tell them during you introduction that you have prepared as best as possible, but you might not be able to provide immediate answers to everything. Tell them that you have arranged for the project team to look stuff up (and do this) during the meeting. That you would rather take 5 min. and have the project planner or project controller or engineer (is there an engineer? I hope so) look something up so you give them the exact right info. If you don't need to call anyone, great. But if you get asked a question that you can't answer - you won't get stressed out. When you are stressed out, you will probably make an bad impression.
posted by jazh at 11:24 PM on June 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

Can you ask both sides (individually, maybe in confidence) if there's anything in particular that they'd like you to be prepared to address?
posted by salvia at 12:30 AM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Eyebrow McGee's comment is a really good one. It's also how junior lawyers that I know prepare for adversarial proceedings. Details depend on how the people you're working with like stuff, but typically, you set up so that when the meeting moves to Issue 129, you pull out binder 129, which has an index of all relevant documents and the documents themselves, plus a list of talking points/things that the partner/senior associate on your side has decided are key, so that if pre-identified sub-issue 129R comes up, you can flip to the purple tab for that, and hand it to the partner who can then ask the other side about why they said the exact opposite three weeks ago.

Side note: your industry may differ, but in an adversarial situation, I absolutely would not reach out to the other side what they'd like you to be prepared to address.

Doing so in confidence just makes it worse, because then you can't even claim ignorance of how bad it looks. It would be a serious offense in a lot of orgs, and would get you blackballed if not outright fired where I am now.
posted by joyceanmachine at 6:10 AM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Yeah, this sort of thing isn't so unusual in the law, whether it's preparing for a mediation or a trial or just a client meeting. Layers of outlines usually helps, particularly if you feel more comfortable sifting through binders/notebooks rather than using some sort of computer database. A big 3-4 page master outline, which then leads you to binder-specific outlines on certain topics. Cross-reference them if you need to. Color-coding based on topics can also be helpful, both with highlighters and tabs. The prep is a lot of work, and you may end up not using 90% of it, but it can allow you to pull that 10% of the information you need at a moment's notice.
posted by craven_morhead at 7:45 AM on June 22, 2017

Best answer: Chiming in with the "outline with tabbed binders" recommendation. It is a lot of work, but it's the only way to be confident. I don't find colors helpful because there are too few of them and you can't literally cross-reference (you won't get the exact actual colors in the outline, and you don't want to be trying to remember which tab you dubbed "violet" and which "periwinkle" in your outline)--numbering is best. Put key terms or issues in bold so you can easily spot them as you can scan down the outline. Put the documents in date order (as applicable) within each binder and don't forget to do a TOC for each; anything you can do to give yourself another clue if things go awry is worth it.
posted by praemunire at 8:45 AM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

Oh, and as long as you are not using any originals or planning on handing any document over to anyone adversarial, tape-flagging and/or highlighting key language in contracts, manuals, etc. can be helpful.

You may not consider a computer your main tool, but being able to do a quick ctrl-F on a topic can be a lifesaver, so I urge you to keep an electronic copy of your outline(s) at hand.

You will have to go through and double-check that everything you think is in your binders actually is, and is what it's supposed to be. (Spoiler: it won't be, and you'll be so glad you checked.)
posted by praemunire at 8:48 AM on June 22, 2017

Response by poster: Thanks all. Yup, I'm not a lawyer, but this project is pretty much a lawsuit without actually being a lawsuit. Any links or other resources about how lawyers prepare for such things would be really helpful, too.
posted by acidic at 9:32 AM on June 22, 2017

I'd probably just make a list of every question, retort, counterargument, etc. you can think of and practice your responses to them over and over. I'd start by actually writing them out and crafting your argument + the stats that will support it, and then practicing them out loud repeatedly, at first with the notes and then without.

I agree a master document of answers or explanations would be good to have with you. You can organize it alphabetically by topic or issue area so you can quickly find it. I know you don't want a computer, but Microsoft Word has a table feature so that, in huge documents, you can click to the exact response you want from a list of headings. I've used it to prepare for what was essentially debate prep -- just click on the question or topic and it will take you to the answer. Then you're not scrolling through hundreds of pages. Shoot me a message if you want a template sent.
posted by AppleTurnover at 1:36 PM on June 22, 2017