Gathering Information from the Client

EAs need to be on top of everything their clients need to do. Whenever your client needs to attend or facilitate a meeting, you need to know:

• Who is going to attend
• What is the agenda
• Where the meeting will be held
• When the meeting is going to happen
• Why the meeting is important
• How your client is going to participate

The above information will help you prepare the documents that your client needs for the meeting.

Type of Meeting

Meetings can turn into hours-long discussions if there is no structure. If your client is invited to a meeting or needs to facilitate one, find out in advance if the meeting will be any of the following types of meetings described in the flip cards.

Info-Sharing Meetings

In an info-sharing meeting, your client will focus on discussing important information related to a project or the company. Info-sharing meetings could be in the form of a presentation, training, or lecture that includes one participant or the whole team.

Problem-Solving Meetings

This type of meeting has one goal: to tackle an immediate problem or a potential issue. A problem-solving meeting would require your client to know the issues beforehand so they can offer possible solutions during the discussion.

Brainstorming Meetings

A brainstorming meeting usually has a creative element to it. During this meeting, quantity is very important. Attendees are expected to come up with plenty of ideas for a project.