Team Meetings are not a social event

Do you have organized, regular team meetings?  Does your team know and understand your expectations?  Do they learn the direction of the company through gossip or water cooler chit chat?  Do you wonder why the goals that you created are not being achieved?  Have you told anyone how much you want your business to grow?  A great way to communicate your goals and vision is through a Strategic Plan.  But a way to keep your team focused and accountable is through regularly scheduled team meetings.

Implementing a Team Meeting Rhythm System which is “a rhythm of regularly scheduled team meetings for goal-setting, reporting and accountability that takes place on a daily, weekly, quarterly and annual basis is a great way to keep your entire team moving in the right direction.

“Mastering the Rockefeller Habits” by Verne Harnish has a great system for every company to follow when creating team meeting agendas. In this format these meetings will be organized, focused and productive.  You may agree that most meetings are quite the opposite.

There are 3 different types of meeting that every company should have in place.  To keep your team focused on the goals that will make your company successful it is important that communication flows consistently.

• Daily Meetings –This meeting is for problem identification – these meetings will last about 15 minutes and the entire team will attend.
  • Agenda
    • What’s up
    • Daily measures
    • Where are people stuck? (bottlenecks)
  • Weekly Meetings – This meeting is issue oriented and strategic gathering – these meeting will last about an hour – the entire management team will attend
    • Agenda
      • 5 minutes – Good News Stories
      • 10 minutes – The numbers – individual and company-wide measures of productivity. KPI’s (key performance indicators)
      • 10 minutes – Review specific feedback from employees and customers
      • 30 minutes – Large priority; taken from your quarterly goals
      • Closing Comments – ask each attendee to sum their reaction to the meeting.
      • Keep a log – keep a record who said they would do what and when.
    • Monthly Meetings – This meeting is focused on learning – These meetings will last 2-4 hours – Management Team will attend.
      • Agenda
        • Review the monthly P&L in detail
        • Discuss what’s working and what’s not working from a process standpoint.
        • Specific training

No matter the size of your company communication is critical to your success.  The key of a successful meeting is to have an agenda, follow it, keep the group focused and stay within your timeline.  Having your associates part of the process will ensure a successful organization.