Hi guys

Hardly got a wink of sleep last night wondering and worrying about a business lunch I am having today to smooth over things with a client. Basically a little thing has been blown out of all proportion. What I am really worried about is that my bosses boss wants me to do most of the handling, though they both will be there My boss and I are to show an united front on issues but thats difficult as my boss doesnt communicate views and changes his mind a lot. I dont really see what convincing arguments I/we can bring. All I know is that rule no. 1 is to do a lot of listening.

I would be grateful for any advice. Possibly also on how to get some decent sleep the night before such events, but thats not as important at the mo...
Now for a coffee...
Thx a lot, Happy Monday

I’d try to speak with my boss and their boss before the meeting to agree the „united position“. Propose one to start the discussion with them. Then when you are at the meeting you can say „my colleagues and I...“, and hopefully your colleagues will nod agreeingly. If the three of you are not in agreement then it will probably show to the customer, who then is in a stronger position than you. Remember the old union motto, united we stand, divided we fall.

Listen to the customer, but more importantly look like you are listening to them as well. Try to find out all their issues before you propose anything, you can then address their concerns when you reply. It may be that they have one real issue that doesn’t come out at first, if you can address that one the others may disappear.

Good luck

These are the worst kind of bosses: lead you down a path and then take a completely different route (often in public) leaving his or her colleagues to pick up the pieces. The advice given earlier is good. You have to nail-down you boss on your stance. If he starts contradicting you in public then the whole cause is lost, and you will come across as a bunch of amateurs. If feasible I would also phone the client to get the most "important issues" that they would like to go over at the meeting. In this way you may be given advance warning of some bombshell.

dave

Getting sleep:

How much is your boss paid? How much are you paid? Did your boss lose any sleep? I doubt it. So why should you?

Just 'swtich off' (easy to say, harder to do.) Avoid coffee the evening before and have a glass of whisky (or similar) before bed and toast your boss in whatever way you find appropriate.

On the meeting:

When a difficult question is posed: smile politely and say "Fortunately my boss, Mr Twoface, is here - let's see what he has to say..." and bounce it to him...

Well, you have to make an impression.

You could ape a twitch in your right eye,and sort of grunt every now and then.

Just when your boss is about to smile and deliver the glory line, you can mutter something about the six heads in your fridge.

That'll teach them to make you lose sleep.

I agree with Dave. These are the worst kind of meetings and you need to get your position nailed down before you go. This means agreeing with your boss (in writing preferably) the line that you are going to take in the meeting. My suggestion is to have a meeting with him to agree the points and then send him a quick email to say "As just discussed, here is a summary of our points for the upcoming meeting .......".

To prevent sleepless nights in the future I would do all this preparation well before the next meeting. If you are well prepared then you will sleep better.

I survived
Started off a bit frosty but went quite well I think.
@Termite and Mikey: I followed your advice on the pre-meeting meetup and the email.
@Ab Fab: yeah its a weird situation with my boss, he has the title and I have the responsibility - he didn't have much input...

Thx to yez all for your tips and tricks, made me feel better

Enjoy the rest of the day!

Phone in sick with the excuse that "the voices tell me to stay home and polish my swords".