Dress code for meetings

A common reason why meetings go wrong is that we have different perceptions of what is expected of us as participants. If some people have prepared thoroughly while others believe that simply attending is enough, there is obviously going to be a clash. When we know how formal the meeting is supposed to be, it becomes easier to both prepare and participate. The concept of formality level serves the same function as a dress code, and clarifying this for meeting participants before the meeting can be very beneficial. It is particularly easy to misunderstand the degree of formality when the participants in the meeting have different cultural backgrounds.

In such contexts, it is particularly important to clearly communicate the degree of formality to everyone who will be participating. Read more about the Chadberg scale, which you can use to clarify how formal a meeting is, in our recently published Meeting Cookbook by Erik Mattsson and Pia Moberg. There you can also read about how to think about meeting rules.

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