Team meetings are a basic part of any business. They serve different purposes at different levels like marketing, brainstorming, decision making, sharing of news or even training sessions. There is a specific goal for each meeting set by the company. Meetings should be properly organised; otherwise, the meetings may not achieve their objectives and will be a disaster. If you properly organise your team meetings, then your employees won’t feel bored or won’t feel that these meetings are actually wasting their time.
This article will talk about the effective tips for running a team meeting:
1. Collaboration, not Reporting
It is not important to share all the things during a meeting. You can also share information using messages or emails. The employees can read the information themselves, and in case of any query, they can save some time during meetings to discuss it in detail. This way is excellent for collaboration and mere discussion instead of dictation or reporting.
This is a good way to discuss things instead of just sharing information on the spot. You can share information with your team members a few days before the meeting so that everyone can come prepared with their own notes and observations for rich discussion.
2. Mixing Things a Bit
If all your meetings follow the same procedures, then you may be at a loss. You should do something exciting every time to educate your team in a special way. You could do any of the following:
- Inviting a guest speaker
- Watching a relevant Ted Talk
- Go out for lunch
- Celebrate any success
- Teaching a new and exciting skill
3. Posing Questions for Discussion
For an effective team, you need to charge your communication. You should ask your team questions like their challenges, feelings and issues that they are facing in your company. You can ask them questions like:
- What did you accomplish this month?
- What was the biggest challenge of this particular month?
- How do you feel being here daily?
- Is there something that is bothering you?
- How can we improve as a team to make you feel better at work?
Only by asking these magic questions you can create a very positive, happy and friendly environment. Such questions give you insight into the deeper and personal feelings of the employees. The employees feel owned and respected. In case of any issues faced by any employee, you can offer a helping hand so an employee can work to his/her fullest.
4. Team Input
Before setting the meeting agenda, you should talk to your team for input. They can come up with different ideas to discuss in the meeting, or they may want to learn something new to help them develop as professionals. Moreover, asking them about their wants makes them feel respected and valued. You should make them feel valued by getting the views and opinions of your employees before setting up any meeting agenda.
4. Meeting Roles
For a productive team meeting, you must stay attentive and cover all aspects of the meeting without making your employees feel bored. Therefore, it is always suggested to assign the meeting roles. The meeting roles can take off the burden from one’s shoulders and help a lot in running effective team meetings. The major three meeting roles are discussed below:
The Leader
- Creating meeting agenda
- Selecting a place for a meeting
- Finalising time for meeting
- Providing details of the agenda to the members
The Recorder
- Jotting down the actionable item
- Noting down meeting minutes
- Writing a conclusion
- Organise and distribute notes
The Time Wizard
- Ensure that the meeting stays within the set time limit
- Alert each member if they are running out of time
- Managing visual and audio aids
5. Speaking on Agenda’s Progress
During the meeting, you should keep on highlighting the meeting agenda at which point you have reached so far. It is also important to properly conclude each topic and move on to the next one. After finishing and winding one topic, announce it and make clear to attendees that now you are moving to the next topic.
6. Improving each Week
After each meeting, you should collect feedback from your team members. Their answers will help you in conducting more effective team meetings. You can ask them several questions like:
- How was the meeting?
- What worked best for you?
- How to make meetings more productive?
- Which agenda was helpful?
- Was there any extra information?
7. Protecting Chance of Everyone to Speak
As a team leader, you are responsible for giving everyone equal rights. Everyone should be heard and respected in all ways. You should allow everyone to talk, even if it is not easy to speak up. After concluding the meeting, you can ask everyone about any issues or questions. Then you can talk to them individually to know their final thoughts.
8. Follow-Up
If you do not take any proper action for the plans finalised during the meeting, then your meetings are nothing but a waste of time. The employees get overburdened by other tasks, so you must take a proper follow-up and see if they are working well or not. You can set a reminder after 48 hours of meeting to ask about the actionable items. This way, the meetings will be fruitful for your company.
9. Sending Meeting Recap
It is really important to share meeting minutes with your employees so they know and remember all the points discussed during the meeting. It is a really helpful activity to freshen and polish all the ideas discussed during the meetings.
10. Building a Community
Every organisation is a community, and each individual in your company is important. Everyone depends on each other to reach the same goals. So, during meetings, everyone should feel welcomed, loved and respected. The meetings give you a great chance to interact with others and strengthen your community.
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