A great rapport with your manager can be a key to your success. That being said, let’s be honest….one of the advantages of working from home, is not having the boss too close at hand. While this certainly has its drawbacks, it is nice to have some space.
Often times, when we work from home or remotely, an online meeting with the boss, is the only time they get to see us. It may be the only impression we get to make, so why not make it a good one. In this article, I will discuss strategies to prepare for an online meeting with your boss.
The key to a great meeting with your boss or manager is preparing ahead. Treat it like a priority. It shows the boss you respect them and you are a true professional. You want to show, that as they have trusted you to work from home, you have come through with productive, high quality work.
“The key to a great meeting with your boss or manager is preparing ahead. Treat it like a priority. It shows the boss you respect them and are a true professional.”
Fears managers may have with employees that work from home
Although you may be 10 times more productive at home due to limited distractions, no commutes, more flexibility and comfort, your manager may not know that. After all, they can’t see you day to day. So you have to alleviate the fears they may have about your working from home.
- Slacking and not working
- Not keeping clear boundaries between work and home
- Taking excessive time to do personal activities and slipping on work goals.
- Misuse of company electronic resources (scrolling Instagram on a work phone, excessively emailing your friends, etc.)
The reality is that employees that work from home may be more productive, have an easier time achieving business goals, and keep good boundaries. I have certainly found this for myself. You want to make sure your online meetings with them reassure them of your progress and meeting business objectives.
Difficulties remote employees may have with interactions with manager
- Not having enough interactions
- Limited time to discuss projects, strategy, and the business overall
- Not being able to build as much personal connection
For this reason, making online meetings productive is essential to get work items you need addressed with the manager as well as update them on your progress. You can even use this time to connect with them and build some rapport. For these reasons, you want to make online meetings with the boss count.
Before your online meeting with the boss
Jot down items you want to discuss.
Put 3-5 bullet points down on a sheet of paper what main topics you would like to bring up. Your progress on the latest project, something you need the boss the expedite, a goal you want to brainstorm, a challenge you need help overcoming, a vacation request you need to make, etc. However, don’t worry if you don’t get to everything you would like. Let the meeting take its natural course, as the boss may have his own items he wants to talk about. However, this way you are prepared with topics on hand.
Check your online meeting settings ahead of time
Make sure your video is working. Check the lighting and your appearance in the video. Make sure you have a nice background image or you are sitting in a nice setting. Make sure you can hear yourself, Check that your computer speaker is working and adjusted to the right volume to be able to hear your boss.
Be Appropriately Dressed
Even though you are at home, act as if you were in the office. If you would normally wear business casual clothes to work, do so in an online call from home. Impressions are important on a work call to maintain your professionalism so make sure you are well groomed and dressed appropriately.
Eat something before your meeting
Make sure you aren’t hungry before your meeting. I’ve gone to meetings hungry and am then low on blood sugar and ready to ‘snap at the boss’. Go to the bathroom before your meeting and take care of any other personal needs, such as exercise, a deep breath, etc. that will help you to stay calm.
Be on time (or a little early)
Be at your computer, appropriately dressed, ready to go. Don’t stumble in, unprepared. Managers often go from meeting to meeting so they may in fact stumble in or arrive a little late (my pet peeve). However, you be prepared and on time. If you are coming from another meeting, treat your boss’s meeting as the priority and make sure you get off the other call in time.
How to start a meeting with your boss
Start with a friendly greeting to establish rapport
Greet them and take a few minutes to connect with them in a friendly way. Such as how was your weekend? How are your kids doing? How was that vacation you took recently. The boss may in turn ask you a fun question. If not, take a minute to just offer something about yourself, such as ‘my husband and I recently went to Florida. We had fun snorkeling’. Don’t take up too much meeting time to do this, but I do believe taking a few minutes to start the meeting off right, will really help build rapport and start you off in a friendly manner.
However, sometimes, managers are short on time and just have to ‘get to business’. In that case, just follow their cue and go with it.
Update your boss on what you accomplished recently
Have a few bullet points ready of tasks you may have accomplished since the last meeting or what you are currently working on. For instance, ‘I recently finished the project on data analysis.’ Tell the boss any details associated with the project. Then talk about next steps. ‘I plan to launch on the first at the next quarterly department meeting’. Be quick on this update so you have time for the important items in the meeting,
Quickly update on any lingering action items from the previous meeting
If there were any lingering items that are quick that were left hanging from your previous meetings, you could mention it here. ‘Joan, just want to let you know that I did send the report to Jim’.
What to cover during the ‘body’ of the online meeting with your boss
Brainstorm during the ‘Body of the meeting’
Here are some items you could cover during the main body of the meeting.
- Challenges you need help with
- Critical meetings you had or are upcoming
- Project Goals
- Business strategy you want to brainstorm
- Major accomplishments (you could put this at the start of the meeting as well)
Use the meeting as a time to pick the boss’s brain. Together, brainstorm through important strategies, goals, problems that need solving. The key word here is “need”. What do you need the boss to help you with or think through? What is important that you need to address or communicate to your boss.
Think of yourself as the boss’s advisory board
What you may not realize is that your manager uses the information your provide at other meetings. In some ways, you are prepping the boss on your projects so he/she can have information he/she needs from you when you are not present. Bosses use this information to make business decisions. Think of yourself as the “chief advisor” on all things important in your role.
Ask the boss “what do they need from you?”
What does the boss need from you to make him/her successful? Do you need to provide any reports or presentation slides? Do you need to prepare some data? Do you need to be present on a meeting to provide an update? Make sure that you are also contributing to the successful collaboration with your boss.
What to say near the end of the meeting
Talk about the future and next steps
Remember to address what your next steps, future projects, and directives will be moving forward. Always have the roadmap clarified by your manager as to where you should be spending your efforts. List important action items you both will need to follow up with.
End the meeting on a friendly and positive note
End with a nice goodbye, thanking the boss for their time and any other positive vibes you want to convey to them.
“Thanks for all of your help Jim. Hope you have a nice weekend.”
“Sue, those are really great suggestions. I can’t wait to get to work on them.”
“Good luck with your meeting with Joe on Wednesday”
What to do after the meeting
Follow through as soon as possible with important action items that came up during the meeting. Do this immediately or within 1 business day, or other timeline you agreed to.
Tips for your meeting with the boss
Be proactive on getting the boss to drive your goals. Don’t wait for the boss to prompt you.
Talk about challenges, but end with a positive comment. – “I’m currently working with Dave on XYZ. It has been challenging to get through the numbers, but we have been collaborating well. “
My manager is very busy and has many direct reports. While he cares about my role, he isn’t always sitting there thinking about my next project. Instead, I proactively think about what goals, projects, action items would serve my role and our company the best. I suggest those items during our meetings and allow him to comment on what he thinks. “What do you think about me starting the project on XYZ?”
Be open to what the boss suggests. Don’t go into the meeting with your mind made up about what direction the meeting will go, and what is the right answer. Have an open mind.
What not to do for an online meeting with your boss
While I certainly know that ‘life happens’ try to avoid doing the following.
- Show up late
- Show up looking like a mess
- Show up with your technology not working – no wifi, video not on, audio not working, unprofessional background
- Showing up hungry, angry, low on energy, etc.
- Show up with nothing to say
- Taking the meeting while you are in the middle of doing something personal (at the gym, in your car, at the grocery store, somewhere loud, etc).
- Cancel or reschedule at the last minute
- Not following up with what you say your are going to do
Hold the boss accountable for your meeting
If your boss cancels a lot, proactively but gently send them a friendly email letting them know what you would like to discuss and that you would like to reschedule. An occasional cancellation is expected and fine, but don’t go weeks without checking in with the boss. This conveys that this meeting is important to you. Most bosses mean well, but they get busy. When you show interest like this, it actually makes them respect you more. It also makes them feel needed.
Flexibility and comfort that I have had home, has made me so much of a better, more productive employee. I love that I can channel my energy for meetings into specific times, and use the rest of my momentum for important work goals.
I am fortunate that I have had great managers, and that I have been able to build rapport with them even though we may be hundreds of miles away and talking through a computer screen. I hope these tips for preparing for an online meeting with your boss give you joyful relationships and success in your role.
