Office Hours and Why You Should Go to Them

I get it. Office hours are kind of intimidating. Like: "Just me and the boss talking in a wide open format?" Doesn't sound super fun.

Well, this is one of those times where everyone is thinking zig and you've got to pull up your big kid pants and zag. Office hours are your key to getting noticed, for you to better understand the company strategy and your one window to talk big picture and ideas with the people who are making decisions.

The truth is, Office Hours are almost never well attended. It's usually the principal sitting in a Zoom room, alone, as they trudge through some mindless task.  They would much rather be having an engaging conversation. You could be the person gifting them that.

What's the worst thing that could happen? Someone else is already in the room and you get to listen to a fireside conversation between the CEO and another person in the company?  That sounds great to me.

Especially today, when you can't just sit down at the same lunch table as your boss or CEO, and have an off handed chat, office hours is your gateway to those people in the organization you would like to get more time with.

Take a look at the calendars of the senior folks in the company, those you want to learn from or even influence, block off your calendar when their office hours are happening, and show up a few times.

They will be glad you did and so will you

Trent Krupp

Co-Founder of ReelBank, connecting creators with the AI economy. Previously, Head of Product at Impact, a market network serving the entertainment industry as well as Head of Revenue at Triplebyte and Hired. Founded an agency in my 20's, sold it to Hired and became employee 5. Recruited for VCs, growth and public companies. Helped the founders of recruitment tech startups Shift.org, Trusted Health, Terminal and Beacon in the early days.