In previous posts, I have talked about the kind of data, graphs and slides one should use in a presentation, especially when the presentation is being made to people who are in a more senior position. One has to be careful about what to present, presenting a top level summary and not doing an overkill with data, and yet having backup data and graphs for the queries that might come (it always comes off well if you have data on your tips, or have access to the data on your finger tips and goes a long way in generating a more positive impression).
The next important question is about who should do the presentation. And for a question such as this, there is no correct answer. It really depends on a number of circumstances, depends on the members of the team, and so on. Here are some points to ponder over:
- Importance of the presentation: Sometimes the presentation is really significant; for example when a new project is being launched and the kickoff means that senior executives would be present. In such a case, one really needs to have the best foot forward, and there is no question of trying out different members of the team in order to get them more presentation experience. If you were going to kick-start a project and the meeting was a review meeting, the presenter needs to be the best person for the job. On the contrary, if this is a regular meeting (many such meetings can be standard meetings where not much changes are expected but are a part of the regular schedule), one can try to get different team members to present either the whole stuff or break it up into different parts done by different team members. There is no real problem in even starting out by the meeting by introducing the team members and explaining the people who would be doing the presentation.
- Inclination: In every team, there will be people who are interested in doing such presentations because it gets them noticed and known by people outside the team especially if they come across as confident and knowledgeable. On the opposite side, there will be people in the team who are really not interested in doing presentations, and this is not something that one can force somebody into.
- Specific ability: Sometimes there is the need to fit a specific ability to the need of the situation. There could be a team member who is very good at data, at being able to understand the different data points as well as analysis of data and different permutations and combinations of data (this would be very useful when this is a review meeting that goes into detail into coding data or defect analysis); on the other hand, when you have a meeting that talks about project starting and about the various options and variables, about customer inputs, you need somebody who is more clear about the requirements, about the options in this, about what the customers think like, and so on. Everybody would know some details, but there are always some specific team members who are more fluent in different parts of the project, and one should always try and match these abilities, unless it is a really routine meeting.
The next important question is about who should do the presentation. And for a question such as this, there is no correct answer. It really depends on a number of circumstances, depends on the members of the team, and so on. Here are some points to ponder over:
- Importance of the presentation: Sometimes the presentation is really significant; for example when a new project is being launched and the kickoff means that senior executives would be present. In such a case, one really needs to have the best foot forward, and there is no question of trying out different members of the team in order to get them more presentation experience. If you were going to kick-start a project and the meeting was a review meeting, the presenter needs to be the best person for the job. On the contrary, if this is a regular meeting (many such meetings can be standard meetings where not much changes are expected but are a part of the regular schedule), one can try to get different team members to present either the whole stuff or break it up into different parts done by different team members. There is no real problem in even starting out by the meeting by introducing the team members and explaining the people who would be doing the presentation.
- Inclination: In every team, there will be people who are interested in doing such presentations because it gets them noticed and known by people outside the team especially if they come across as confident and knowledgeable. On the opposite side, there will be people in the team who are really not interested in doing presentations, and this is not something that one can force somebody into.
- Specific ability: Sometimes there is the need to fit a specific ability to the need of the situation. There could be a team member who is very good at data, at being able to understand the different data points as well as analysis of data and different permutations and combinations of data (this would be very useful when this is a review meeting that goes into detail into coding data or defect analysis); on the other hand, when you have a meeting that talks about project starting and about the various options and variables, about customer inputs, you need somebody who is more clear about the requirements, about the options in this, about what the customers think like, and so on. Everybody would know some details, but there are always some specific team members who are more fluent in different parts of the project, and one should always try and match these abilities, unless it is a really routine meeting.
No comments:
Post a Comment