Is it good or bad to ask after someone's kids during a coffee chat?
- Is it good or bad to ask after someone's kids during a coffee chat?
- If someone recently went on maternity leave is it good or bad to ask after their baby during a coffee chat?
On the one hand it seems like a good idea as many parents like talking about their kids more than anything in the world. But I'm not sure if it would be considered "too personal" or not "professional" enough for a coffee chat.
Assume that you know they have kids because you met them briefly at a networking event and during small talk they mentioned they were watching their son/daughter's basketball grand final on the weekend
There's no definite answer here. You have to balance memory and connection with coming off as creepy. If I knew a connection well I'd be more willing to ask about the kids, but for one-time meetings tread carefully.
Personally for the basketball scenario, if it is the day or next day after the kids' event, I would bring it up and ask how it went. If there's more than 4-5 days total between networking/basketball/next meeting, I would not mention the kids unless brought up
In the event of maternity leave I would ask some open ended "how are you, how has everything been" as they invite the parent to bring up their kid. At that point congratulate and ask about the baby.
No keep it professional. In all honesty you know you don’t care about the kid.
Unless you're asking about them in a Michael Jackson pedo-tone, you should be good.
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