Make Your Meetings More Positive (and Less Taxing)

This is the first year I’ve worked with an accountant to complete my tax returns. Two people referred me to the same company, so I felt confident they would do a good job. Still, I was a bit nervous at our first meeting. After I sat down, Peggy, the accountant, pointed to a quote on her wall that said, “Making out your own income tax return is something like a do-it-yourself mugging.” Then she turned to me with a smile and said, “We’re experts at helping our clients avoid getting mugged by the IRS. We’re here to answer your questions and make the process as smooth and painless as possible.” Her upbeat, humorous attitude made me feel more at ease and got our meeting off to a good start.

Thinking about it later, I realized that Peggy had used a great meeting technique: Start a meeting with something positive to set the tone for the rest of the meeting. Here are  some other meeting starters to get your next meeting off on the right foot:

• Smile, and keep smiling as much as possible; a frown just brings everyone down and increases tension levels.
• Ask participants to share a problem or issue they’ve solved since the last meeting.
• Ask participants to share something they’ve learned in the last week (work or non-work related).
• Share recent good news for the company.

What positive meeting starters have you used for your meetings?