Setting up for Successful Meetings & Projects
Cartoon Coffee Break by Terry LeBan - www.cornerstoneondemand.com
Best Practices for 1:1s & Projects
Your 1:1 invites have been sent out, your coworkers have accepted, and the meeting is coming up in less than an hour. Make a list of topics to discuss and questions you want answers to. Do research on the person you are meeting with beforehand. Look up their career history and interests on LinkedIn or other professional websites so you can ask personalized and informed questions. Since you’ll probably be meeting with a handful of people from different teams, start a spreadsheet of all 1:1 connections you’ve made and jot down your conversations in a note-taking program (I like to use One Note). It can help you in the long run if you want to transition to another team or need to reference your conversation.
Before we begin, one important note: if it is the first time you are meeting someone always make sure to shake their hand. Have a confident and firm handshake, good eye contact, smile, and don’t be sitting down.
• • •
Agenda for Introductory 1:1s
Introduce Yourself (in an elevator pitch format and your coworker will introduce themselves as well)
From what city or country
School
Major
Past work experience
Current work on the team (coworker will probably touch on this)
Bring a notepad and a pen because you’ll want to start taking notes from this point onwards. Make quick and concise notes - be sure not to spend too much time writing. During COVID this is made much easier since meetings will almost exclusively be virtual.
Ask About Their Work on the Team
How does it relate to the overall business?
How does it relate to you? Will you two be working with each other? (the second question is for your teammate, not partners who you’ve reached out to because you’ll be working together)
They’ll probably jump into explaining the business. Make sure to pay close attention so you’ll be able to ask insightful follow-ups. (Try to avoid superficial questions)
Follow up Questions About the Business
Ask about concepts you don’t understand, how does x affect y? What are we doing to track impact or mitigate risk?
What goal is the team prioritizing? How does your work further this? How can you bring in your experience/expertise to help?
Advice and resources you can use to learn more or ramp up faster
What tools, systems, programs, dashboards does the team mostly use and would be most helpful to your project (install them, bookmark in your browser, get access)
Helpful extensions for internet browser, Outlook (for example: Amazon has an Outlook extension to add meeting IDs to appointments), company web pages or email lists for events, free food, etc.
Ask About the Team Itself!
What time people come in and leave
Team culture, happy hours, celebrations
If your 1:1 is with someone outside of your immediate team, ask about their managers/team and their work
Advice for You?
How can I make the most out of my time here?
• • •
Agenda for Meetings with Your Manager
This agenda is for the post-introductory meetings aka weekly check-ins. Come prepared with a written outline of what you’re going to discuss and make sure to take notes throughout the meeting on what your manager has to say.
Start off on a Casual/Personal Note
Over time, this will foster a more meaningful relationship with your manager. If your manager brings up that they have kids or a pet, take a mental note and be sure to ask about him/her the next time you meet. This includes asking about things such as birthdays, summer camp, pets, etc.
What You’ve Completed
List out the action items from the previous meeting that you’ve completed
Anything else outside of that list that you’ve completed
This is a nice way to highlight your progress/wins and show that you’re on track, do what you say you’re going to do, and don’t wait around for others to tell you what to do.
It’s also important to bring this up every meeting if your manager is hands-off and doesn’t constantly ask for an update. They may never know the good work you’re doing unless you tell them and this will impact their performance evaluation when considering you for a return offer.
Status Updates on the WIPs (Work in Progress)
Some tasks will take longer than the week between meetings, so provide an update to show your manager that you are working towards your goal and an estimated time of when it will be completed.
Roadblocks and Questions
If there’s anything you didn’t complete or are having difficulties with - explain why, provide some strategies you’ve attempted that haven’t worked, and ask for advice or suggestions.
However, do NOT ask what you should do with every little thing. Your manager is not there to give you all the answers. It’s up to you to get to the bottom of the problem while your manager supports you and ensures that you’re on the right path.
Escalate issues (let’s say a team is not getting back to you, you can let your manager know so that they could bug them)
Request for permissions or access
Next Steps
Think about your end goal and your work back plan - a map starting from the delivery date of your project and all of its milestones in reverse order until the start date
Run your ideas past your manager so that you can get feedback on whether or not you are on the right path (In the past, I’ve made the mistake of going down the wrong path or building a model that wasn’t quite what my manager had in mind)
Project deadline comic from Dilbert - www.dilbert.com
Project Tracker
Three months flies by pretty quickly when everything is exciting and new. Once you have a better grasp of the projects you’re assigned to, probably around week two or so of your internship, create a project tracker to help keep you organized. Update this tracker with your weekly milestones and future to-do list. At the end of the internship, some companies will ask you to write a reflection on your performance or a report on the methodology for your project. This will be the perfect file to reference when you can’t recall what you did two months ago.
