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Don't Andy Bernard Your Meeting Plan

By Jeffrey Steinke

Did you catch the new season of The Office recently?  Season 8 has started and we find out that (drum roll, please…) Andy Bernard is the new regional manager for Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch.

And already we can learn a thing or two from Andy.  Or rather, what not to do.

Andy’s Plan

I’ll set the stage.  Andy wants to have an important meeting (aka “casual chit chat”) with his new boss, the new Sabre CEO, Robert California.

He then lets us in on his “plan” for his meeting with Robert:

  • Can I get everyone an extra long Columbus Day weekend?
  • Connect with the guy. What does he think of me?
  • We lost our biggest client (time permitting)

“Time Permitting?”

Technically I suppose this is a plan, albeit an absolutely terrible one.  Where to begin?

He’s hidden the most important topic, losing their biggest client!, at the end of the meeting.  Minor detail, right?  He’s wasting time, to convince Robert to take away even more time with an extra vacation day.  And he has to setup a dedicated meeting just to get his boss to like him.

Sure we’ve said before how important a meeting plan is.  And yes we’re glad to see Andy’s effort at following that process.  But a good meeting is so much more than just following the rules - actual content still matters!

For a good laugh check out the full episode (or skip to the 5:20 mark) for more of the Nard Dog in action: http://www.nbc.com/the-office/video/the-list/1357517.

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