I was recently reminded of the need to prepare. You can easily succumb to the way things are just done in your organisation and forget the very basics.
I’ll give you an example. I had an idea I wanted to test out to engage a key audience for my organisation. However as I explored it I felt it could benefit wider audiences that we market to.
I set up a meeting with my team to explore this and that’s where I failed.
I kept it at exploration stage but didn’t think about what I knew I wanted out of it which essentially was a ‘yes, let’s do this’ or ‘you go ahead, it’s not for my audience’.
Instead I was left with uncertain steps forwards and a general consensus of it not being the right engagement tool.
When reflecting I realised I had forgotten a basic step which was to prepare for that meeting.
If I had spent even ten minutes preparing I may have felt that I got out of it what I needed. Here are the things I would do differently that hopefully you can apply when you’re met with a similar situation:
1. Take ten minutes to figure out what you want from it.
I didn’t take enough time on the outcome. I was too focused on getting thoughts, but not how to harness them for what I actually wanted.
2. Do some research around it to help support your point or at least be more considered in your approach.
I did some as that’s how I came across the idea but I didn’t sit with that example to study it enough.
3. Don’t think of it in your head, get it down on paper.
It stayed too much up there, and had I spent even five minutes putting it onto paper, it would have been so much clearer.
4. Make slides to pitch it
Even when it’s internal and within your own team, slides would have supported the exploration at the very least as well as helping to clearly articulate the idea.
So next time you’re looking to explore an idea, sit with it longer. Think about the above and what preparation you need to succeed and move it forward to where YOU wish it to go.