Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

This weeks was one full of meetings... probably couldn't tell from the title, huh? One of my meetings was to help prep for an upcoming facilitated meeting that we would be doing for an organization working on their strategic plan for the next few years. It was the first meeting with this person, and it was great! We discussed some of the findings that she had from surveys and initial assessment of the organization. She had been working with the director of the program/organization and sent me over the materials beforehand. It was great to be able to sit down and talk openly about what we might do and how we might do it. I loved it because it felt like I was another colleague, and not just an intern.

As soon as I left that meeting, I rushed over to another meeting for an upcoming training. This meeting was also great because I was able to see the process of planning for a training, and the collaborative back and forth between those paying for the service and those providing the training. As appropriate, I also shared my input in this meeting, but I knew that I was not the expert in this meeting and that I was there to observe more than anything (which I appreciated very much). It was actually really nice to observe (and take notes) for the upcoming training and to see what this process looks like.

A couple of days later we met again with another potential partnership and hammered out a few details about what something might look like and how we could make it work. We chatted over coffee and tea, and talked about the potential that this opportunity could have. As this setting was more casual, I was more able to voice my thoughts and opinions, and share some of my experiences from business and work. Once again, I felt more like a colleague than an intern, and was grateful that I could sit in with two great minds working to come together in a collaborative venture. It's in the details and preparation that great things come about, and the meetings of this week were those opportunities to work on the both of these.