Before the meeting. That’s right. Most of the important activity gets handled before the meeting takes place. In a good meeting in which the sides are prepared, that preparation obviously takes place in advance and by the time the people actually physically come to the meeting and they are ready to use the information which they have garnered and it is perhaps to be considered to be the meeting itself is to be considered the grand finale but that’s after everything else was already said, done, finished, completed, and worked on. The side that works on it the best which can present the case the best is going to be the winner.

Under this circumstance it is very clear that the way that many people go to a meeting isn’t going to work. Very often they come in order to just see what will happen and they hope that everything will work out for the best. They don't necessarily get they are not necessarily rested, they don't necessarily do the preliminary research which is need in order to find out what the other side is going to say and they don't come prepared with arguments and statements to show their feelings or their opinions about the situation. Instead of doing all of these good things they come to the meeting and expect everything to somehow miraculously work out and that rarely happens. Rather than working out, the other side which has done the homework preparation has the right ideas, has prepared in advance, has thought about it, has investigated the options and has presented counter arguments is more likely to win in the decision. It is therefore worth doing the preparation.

After all, the results of the meeting are going to be something which everybody is going to have to live with. Basically everybody has to agree to the decisions of the meeting if they don't want to splinter the group or to have animosity or problems within the group. That’s the purpose of the meeting. In order to have this true meeting of minds the real work of the meeting has to begin before the meeting itself. When the actual meeting begins.

Your job in the meeting is therefore much different than what you may have expected. It is far from being a passive and quiet during the meeting. Instead your job is to be very active especially beforehand.