Effective Team Meetings
Team meetings are a key part of building a powerful team dynamic.
Team meetings shouldn’t be a chore. Planning and running effective team meetings is an essential part of a leader or manager’s role.
And there are a stack of benefits to running effective meetings, including:
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Building a feeling of togetherness – team
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Sharing information
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Asking and answering questions
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Discussing important issues
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Helping your team members develop the ability to think clearly
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Gaining perspective on issues
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Seeing how your team members interact with each other
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Helping your team members work more effectively as a team
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Encouraging team members to raise concerns and issues
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Sharing best practice
I’m sure you’ve attended meetings that are less than productive, sometimes even a complete waste of everyone’s time!
It’s important to remember that meetings cost money. Just think about who is attending, how much they are paid for their hour of work and you’ll see that the cost quickly adds up. It’s essential, then, that every meeting is productive and delivers the outcomes you are looking for.
To help make your meetings work, consider these suggestions:
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Have a clear purpose for your meeting and be very clear on the outcome, or results, you want from it
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Don’t try and do too much, or cover too many issues in the meeting
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Plan ways of making the meeting interesting
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Prepare an agenda, even its just the key points you will cover
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Start the meeting on time
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Open the meeting by stating and clarifying objectives and expectations
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Appoint someone to take notes, and ensure all participants take their own notes on issues specific to them (ownership)
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Encourage participation and ensure you take a balanced approach and involve everyone
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Keep discussions on track
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When a decision is made, ensure its agreed by all participants and is recorded
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Check that you have achieved the objectives you set for the meeting
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Agree on team and individual actions and action plans
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Seek commitment from participants as to exactly what they are going to do, and when (Commitment To Action)
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End the meeting on time
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Hold people accountable for the commitments to action they make
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Do a cost-benefit analysis of your meetings
Be sure your meetings make a difference. Be clear on the objectives you are working towards and that the outcomes you reach support them.
How effective are your current team meetings?
Take action now:
Download and use the checklist to help you assess how effectively you plan and conduct your team meetings. It’s just a starting point so be sure to add to it any elements specific to your team and objectives.
