How to React to an Unexpected Meeting With Your Boss
Is there anything more annoying than your boss letting you know that he would like to have a meeting with you on short notice? Even if you’ve been giving it your all at work, you can suddenly become nervous. Is this a reprimand ? Dismissal ? As far as you know, it could be praise or a higher salary, but that doesn’t stop the experience from being terrifying.
As career coach Ashley Stahl told Lifehacker, “One-on-one meetings can be a simple check to make sure you’re okay, to check on your workload, or to ask if you need any extra resources.” Her advice is to try not to let your thoughts get distracted by something catastrophic, especially since today’s hybrid work model means that seemingly unscheduled meetings may not be so spontaneous. If you or your boss have been working from home, sometimes it’s easier to just send someone a link to a virtual meeting as soon as possible (even though it’s annoying and somewhat inconsiderate).
Stahl noted that workplace meetings jumped 13% during the pandemic as managers found new ways to communicate with teams they would normally see in the hallways or at their desks.
LinkedIn career expert Blair Heitmann added that the shorthand methods common in modern office settings (such as Slack, Teams, and email) also make it difficult to convey context and tone, so don’t put too much emphasis on brevity or the timing of their meeting. request.
How to understand why you need a meeting
Stahl suggested an easy way to get an idea of the topic of the meeting without making it seem like you’re overthinking it: send an email or message to your manager and ask if there’s something you need to bring with you. If they say yes, you’ll have a better idea of what’s going on and you’ll be able to start collecting the right materials. Heitmann added that if you feel comfortable, you can also directly ask about the agenda of the meeting.
Of course, you can also connect with colleagues you trust. If there are layoffs, there are probably rumors; or maybe someone else had a similar encounter and can tell you what their meeting was about.
(If you’re too stressed, you can also look inside yourself. Be honest with yourself about your attitude and performance, and adjust accordingly. “We know when we’re not bringing our game to perfection,” Stahl says. If you brought it, you should feel confident enough; if not, you should be willing to be open and honest about what you can improve.)
Finally, if mass layoffs are coming, your company will need to file a notice under the Workers Change Notice and Retraining (WARN) Act. Check there .
Gather up-to-date information about your performance
As a general rule, you should keep track of your major successes or milestones; if not, you should start now. Create a folder on your desktop and add any positive messages from colleagues and other examples of a job well done, such as quarterly sales totals, to it. A recent LinkedIn poll found that 55% of professionals don’t track their progress regularly, but you really should. And knowing that you have tangible evidence of your professional accomplishments will help you stay calm before unscheduled meetings.
Stahl also recommends taking a bottle or glass of water with you so you can drink it when you need time to prepare an answer or calm your nerves. Hope you have good news.