Partner Meeting Guidelines

This is a draft only!
It is still under construction and content may change. Do not rely on this information.

This page summarizes some guidelines and recommendations for meeting with Industry Partners.

Industrial Partners

Industrial Partners in CDOT are companies or other organizations that have partnered with us in support of an applied research project. Typically, one or more funding organizations (such as NSERC or OCE) provide contributions that match the partner's support, sometimes in a 1:1 ratio and sometimes in other ratios.

Visiting an Industrial Partner in Person

Scheduling the Meeting

When scheduling a meeting with a partner, it is recommended that you negotiate the time, place, duration, and agenda by email. Once the details have been nailed down, schedule it in a the Seneca calendar (Outlook/OWA) and add all of the participants. This will send an "Invite" to the participants, which if accepted will automatically add it to their calendar.

Preparation

Before the meeting, decide on:

• The goals of the meeting -- what we need to take away from the meeting.
• The partners' goals -- what they need to take away from the meeting.
• The agenda -- the sequence of discussion scheduled for the meeting.

Prepare a written agenda if appropriate (this is less important for introductory/investigative conversations and single-topic meetings, and most important for busy meetings where there are a lot of things to be covered). The agenda needs to include the names of the organizations involved, the date, each item to be covered, the person leading each topic, and the approximate time allocated to each topic. It may or may not include a start time for each item.

Prepare all deliverables. Documentation should be printed (if delivered electronically, at least one copy should be delivered on paper); put Seneca's name and logo, the organization/program name and logo (CDOT, OSTEP, etc), the partner name, and the date or version number on the cover letter. Number the pages and provide a table of contents and/or an index. Include the title in the page footer. Software should be delivered on media or as URLs and authentication information.

Dress

The rule of thumb for business meetings is to dress one step above that of the partner you are visiting, or at least dress in an equivalent way. Since most offices dress at the "office casual" level, that means at least khahkis and a sports shirt; dressing one step up in dress slacks and/or a dress shirt is appropriate. A sports coat, sweater, or informal jacket are also appropriate. Ties are generally not required.