It's a meeting. Not a war [now put down that hand grenade]

"If we are all in agreement on the decision - then I propose we postpone further discussion of this matter until our next meeting to give ourselves time to develop disagreement and perhaps gain some understanding of what the decision is all about" Alfred P. Sloan

Have you ever sat at your desk, working on a project, and you witness the beginnings of a fairly mundane design issue as it slowly transforms itself into a never-ending thread of disruptive and threatening emails?

I bet you have, and if you are an engineer then you will probably have found yourself right in the middle of a war or two.

#EmailFail

The experienced amongst you will have already have been mentally reaching for the project file and prepping for a fiery meeting - under the guise of a 'design team meeting', or even more benignly a 'value engineering exercise'. Shudder.

It can be said that structural and civil engineers who gain good experience, and are subsequently found to be competent enough to shoulder the burden of design responsibility - will be undoubtedly be shuffled closer and closer to the head of the table, in a finger pointing party.

Finger pointing parties are not enjoyable experiences for the guest[s] of honour, and until you have experienced a few, you will never really get used to a gut wrenching feeling, akin to have being ambushed by a ravenous pack of close family members.

In the wake of yet another quality 'stitch-up' session, I feel qualified enough to speak to you about why and how you should prep for meetings as a project engineer.

Ask yourself the following question, when you know a 'meeting' is on the cards.

"What's the MEETING for?"

Seems obvious doesn't it? It is amazing though how this small detail gets forgotten by the meetings participants. Planning the research and preparation for a meeting is an efficient use of your time. Especially when you are fully aware of what the aim of the meeting is.

• Contractor and Client led Design Team Meetings. These tend to be confrontational micro managing exercises. If you are the only design team member who is invited, then you had probably be expecting some stiff questions directed at you from the organisers. Staying on top of your project 'to do list' and dealing with queries in a timely manner will normally preclude you from these kinds of meetings. It is worth mentioning that if you have taken an educated risk on an item or two, then consider this forum a way for your employers to ascertain how confident you are in your assumptions. Your thoughts may well be minuted.
• Design Workshops. A chance for the project designers to come together and run through design difficulties or envisaged future challenges. These meetings tend only to involve 'designers', but every once in a while, a particularly experienced site engineer or contractor will be invited to add their particular flavour of practicality to the mix. Productive design workshops are achieved by all attendees actively participating in the run up to, and the preparation of the meeting agenda. Note: To forewarn the other attendees of your intended design queries is considered good form here. Make the very best use of your time by involving yourself with this process.
• Engineering Team Status Meetings. Not every engineering practice sees the value of these 'staff meetings'. For example, Bang & Olufsen do not bother with many of them. They choose only to meet up at the beginning of a project, after conceptual cardboard models have been created, and when the project is finished! The key to organising useful team status meetings is not to micro manage engineers time, or to invite the participants to address any overly technical questions. The cross fertilisation of new ideas, skills learned, feedback and project experiences is key to expanding the knowledge of the team in the shortest possible weekly or bi-weekly meeting. Do not use a rigid format, as this can be a real innovation kill joy. Boooo!

In short, we have prepared for you a list of key points to consider when the subject of meetings is raised at your workplace or by a senior member of the project team. Use this information wisely.

1. Prepare well, As mentioned earlier. Even a small amount of preparation will show the rest of the invitees that you are not there to waste time, but to enable the process.
2. Understand why it is you have been gathered... or summoned to the meeting in the first place.
3. Look for ways to assist in the flow of design ideas, take them to their natural conclusion if needs be. Don't be too quick to dismiss an idea.
4. Offer you own empirical evidence or justifiable career experience upon the topics being discussed. Help the team come to educated conclusions.
5. Use a situation where technical design issues crop up to demonstrate that you are thinking about practicalities and economies of design. This is part and parcel of being an engineer, and will be considered one of your main contributions to the proceedings.
6. Keep answers to direct questions brisk and lose the waffle. Listen out for silences. These represent the end of the meeting is near.
7. Be careful to summarise the meetings salient points at the end. Demonstrate that you have understood what has been asked of you. Follow up with a list of project priorities if you feel it is necessary.
8. Take notes!
9. Leave them wanting more. A meeting full of people who can't wait to see how you are going to deliver on what you have promised, will feel engaged. For the right reasons, you will have enthused the room with your technical knowledge, a quirky designers perspective and a willingness to contribute. Well done you.

Remember, meetings are not meant to be war, but a bit of tactical intelligence gathering never goes to waste.

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." Benjamin Franklin

Engine[er]