In this chapter we discuss various aspects of presenting yourself in a professional context. These are generally considered to be common sense rules of thumb that people pick up along the way.
You likely have not had a chance to do a lot of project work with outside partners, clients or organizations. It is important to remember that you are representing Brandeis University and yourself and your team and that the people you are talking to may not realize that you are students, or in any event will expect you to operate at a high level of professionalism whether you are a student or not. Here are some pointers to keep in mind:
Salutations: When writing emails, pay attention to style. Greetings should be “Dear xxx” or if you want to be more informal “Hi xxx” but not “Hey zzz” or other familiar salutations. Names: By default you should call people by their full name in emails, “Dear Pito Salas” or “Dear Mr. Salas” until the person suggests that you should call them by their first name. This is often done by the way that they sign their emails, whether they use a familiar first name.
Organizations: Take the trouble to learn the official name of a team or organization and use it instead of some shorthand that’s easier to remember. Likely the true name of a company or organization is significant to them and they will be taken aback if you shorten it. Again if you see your correspondents use an abbreviation or nick name for a group, you can use it too. Delays in response: You should pay attention to how long it’s been since you asked for some information. If more than 3-4 days pass you need to follow up. The email might have been lost in their inbox, you might have sent it to the wrong person, or they weren’t clear what exactly you were asking.
You might not have had to organize a meeting with business people in the “real world.” Start from the perspective that the partner is volunteering their time to help and support our project, and so we do all we can to use their time wisely and respectfully. Here are some guidelines.
When you are about to set up the meeting, offer the partner several time slots that all members of your team can make (and possibly Pito as well, case by case.) This allows the partner to try and fit the time into their busy schedule.
Realize that they have almost definitely never been to Brandeis. Provide them with Brandeis’ address as well as a google map. (Telling them to look up the Brandeis web site is not acceptable.) You need to reserve a room for the meeting. Pito can help with that.
You also need to suggest to them where to park and help them find the meeting room. You can annotate a google map of the campus to show them the relative positions of the parking area and the room. Offer them your cell number and ask them to text or call you as soon as they arrive on campus and if necessary walk in their direction to make sure they don’t get lost.
Be sure that all the team members are present at the appointed time. No showing up five minutes late or worse because the alarm clock didn’t go off :)
Before the meeting the team has to decide what the desired outcomes of the meeting is, the goal. It might be things like getting to know each other, getting a partner summary of the project, asking the partner some specific questions, providing the partner a demonstration, or a status update.
Meetings tend to follow a loose process. Some meetings might need a formal powerpoint but usually it’s not necessary. For the first meeting, you will probably shake hands and definitely have everyone introduce themselves. For subsequent meetings it’s not bad to remind the partner of who is who. While Pito may be in the room, I usually will be a quiet observer. The default expectation is that one of the team members drive the discussion. Choose one of you, whoever is most comfortable.
Usually meetings start with a couple of minutes of social talk. “Did you have trouble finding parking?”, “Where is your office located?”, “I know you are very busy, so we appreciate the time.”, “Too bad about the Patriots”. If you’ve never met before then take a moment with introductions.
Check that everyone agrees how long the meeting will be. “How long do we have? Do we have a full hour or do you need to get out at a certain time?” Then go through your planned agenda point by point. Watch the clock. Unless the partner says otherwise, you should aim to be done with your specific points or goals on time. Finally when they head out, offer to walk them to the car in case they might have trouble finding their way back.