Tokyo and tech through the eyes of a split pea

Picking a time to meet

Have a meeting with a VP (one of hundreds) on Monday. Met him a few years ago and called me in after sending a rant. In prepping, I came across this interview which I hadn’t seen before. It’s a few years old, but interesting to see how our “leader” was thinking and how things have changed since.

But that wasn’t the point of this entry. Last week when choosing a meeting time, I was given 3 options — a Thursday afternoon, a Friday morning, or the following Monday morning. As eager as I was to meet, I chose the last option. (This was over a week in advance so it wasn’t due to lack of preparation.) After thinking about the possible times, I concluded Monday would be most effective. Consider: Thursday afternoon, one is often tired after a hearty lunch. Many also often forget what exactly transpired in the middle of the day. It’s like picking interview times in college — be either first or last, and set an impression. Otherwise you’ll just be in a sea of faces with all the others in between. So that left Friday and Monday morning. Although discussing on Friday would have left the weekend for thought, I wasn’t going to bank on it; few I know want to think about work on the weekends. Plus, who really works on a Friday? I’m kidding. Well, kinda. Meetings on Fridays are perhaps the least productive. So, that left Monday morning. It’s true I run the risk of losing mindshare to other matters throughout the week, but that will just have to be my challenge. At least I have the highest chances of an attentive audience on a Monday morning.

Such is the importance of choosing a good meeting time. But most important, make it effective — a concept yet to be recognized in this organization.