Q. Our team meetings have become boring and unproductive. What can we do differently?
So often we can walk away from a meeting feeling like we haven’t achieved anything at all.
When the same people meet, week in, week out, to discuss the same matters with the same structure, the meeting can easily become boring, uninspiring and unproductive. Then add to the mix the same voices rising over the others and the same people who say nothing at all. It’s no wonder we can be unenthusiastic about weekly team meetings.
There are some quick changes that you can make so your team really do want to attend your next team meeting and, more importantly, it becomes effective and productive.
Firstly, have a clear purpose and create an agenda, including action items to ensure things actually get done. This agenda will also allow you to stick to the allocated time frame. Take minutes and share these with the team to create some accountability.
It’s important to encourage input, ideas and questions from all team members, remembering this should be a safe place to celebrate wins and learn from challenges. Perhaps it’s a quick update on their role, activity or results. You could also have a different team member chair the meeting each week.
Sick of sitting around the boardroom table? Hold the meeting in a different location every now and then. Maybe your local coffee shop is the perfect place to hold a meeting once a month.
And finally, a quick meeting is a good meeting. It’s about the outcomes, not the time spent.
To have your question answered email askthecoach@eliteagent.com.
