#MeetingOfTheMinds

Meetings.  Love them or hate them, they’re an integral part of our life here at Aegon. 

The VEEP program has been fantastic for my meetings.  This has been especially helpful with the Active Directory Consolidation project.  We’ve been able to make big strides in cleanup since I’ve been here and available in person.  When we need to discuss something or fix something, we can quickly and easily get together to discuss a plan of action.  In fact, in one meeting this week, we were able to sort out an issue in about 30 minutes, which would have taken hours (if not days) over email or phone.  If you don’t believe me, just check out the attached photo.  I know it looks like a page from a football playbook, but trust me, it’s some real good security.

This week, I was also able to attend a meeting with our Corporate Center Finance group, where we came together and organized a new data structure for them where we could all agree was best.  And just last night, I was able to setup a quick meeting to work through a rather complex multi-domain issue which arose for AAM.  So clearly meetings are very important here.

But I have noticed that meetings are approached slightly differently.  Keep in mind the following observations are from my personal experiences (and from multiple interviews of my Dutch colleagues).  We’re all unique individuals, and you can’t say that everyone always acts in a certain way, but we have noticed some trends with meetings.

In general, as compared to meetings in our US offices, I’ve found that meetings in the Netherlands office tend to be a bit more frequent, short, informal, and much like the physical workspace itself, they tend to be a bit more open and collaborative.  And in general, they very much prefer them to be in person.  It’s very common for all necessary parties (regardless of level or title) to be invited to a meeting to offer advice and feedback so everyone is on the same page and comes to an agreement.

So considering the world is becoming a smaller place and many meetings include people from around the globe, how can we make our meetings more effective?

• We can start by setting expectations early in the meeting.  Is this a meeting for information?  For agreement?  For task-giving?  For resolution of an issue?
• I understand that we can’t always be in the same room together, but we can work on building trust other ways.  I’ve said this before.  It’s 2015, the year Marty McFly went Back to the Future.  Video conferencing is here, and it’s amazing (and easy).  Communication is two thirds non-verbal, so why would you want to only get one third of your message across?
• We can use more inclusive phrases.  Focus on ONE Aegon, emphasizing teamwork and common goals and eliminating an “us vs. them” mentality.
• Another thing to consider is time zones.  Our European colleagues can be as much as 7 hours ahead, so when booking meetings, remember the beginning of the workday in the US is the end of the day in Europe.  This is especially important to remember when your European colleague is trying to wrap up their day so they can catch a train home.  I really understand this now.  J
• And finally, stay flexible and keep a good sense of humor.  This will get you a long way in meetings and in the workplace.

One last thing.  Speaking of meetings, our AGT Client Security team had an awesome global video conference meeting this week.  I found out that our team of 20 people spans 5 locations, speaks 6 languages, and has a combined work experience of almost 300 years (that’s an average of 15 years per person).  So if you need help with security, you’re in good hands.

Oh, and by the way, we also just happen to have two guitarists, a drummer, a keyboardist, multiple singers, and even a former roadie on the team… so if this security gig doesn’t work out, we’re *totally* starting a band.