This is something I learned that takes time, but is definitely worth it…what I used to call “spend 5 hours now to save 60 later”.

This is particularly important in situations when controversial recommendations or findings will be presented. They tend to be large committees, cross functional, dealing with thorny issues where there will be “losers” and “winners” (like a change in cost allocation. Or recommended budget cuts. Or recommended process changes. Or any change). Or they can be situations where the team is now at a crossroads and needs to make a big change in strategy in order to get back on track. Or situations where what people think isn’t what’s actually going on, and it falls on you to communicate that.

For those situations, I have seen the value of “pre-selling”.

What that means is that I take the presentation (marked “draft” very clearly) and have separate meetings ahead of the big meeting with those folks who are opinion makers and likely to be impacted in a way they will view as negative. Or they have made their views known and they are not supportive.  I frame the discussion as a “casual conversation-just wanted to take you through the direction we’re heading and make sure you’re comfortable with it.”

A couple of things happen from that. One, the person appreciates not getting blindsided. No one, especially senior people, like to be blindsided in a meeting. Two, they can offer up suggestions: better ways to present the data, information you may not be aware of, other people who you should meet with. Lastly,  they can reluctantly agree.

What this does is set the stage for the big meeting. It’s hard for people to react badly if you’ve given them the heads up and asked them for their feedback. And when it comes to light that you’ve done the pre-sell, people look silly having a tantrum.

Does it work all the time? No. But it sure makes it easier to have the meeting when everyone knows what to expect.