Team meetings, a real need?

A WASTE OF TIME ?

Very often, this is what employees feel when leaving a team meeting. The feeling of having lost precious time.
But why such resentment?
Often it’s not having concrete goals coming out of a meeting that’s frustrating.
Here is, in general, the establishment of a team meeting:

• A problem arises, it must be addressed, a meeting is scheduled
• During the meeting, managers express dissatisfaction, or simply update a situation,
• Employees speak very little. Their words do not reflect their thoughts, probably out of managerial fear,
• The executives “release” the collaborators from the meeting, ordering the resolution of the problem in question as soon as possible.

RESULT ?

No action plan has been established, so the problem will not be resolved in the short term. The communication choices are faulty, they break the frankness, and therefore the progression. The atmosphere tarnished by this poor communication divides the company. Employees are not motivated. So it’s literally a waste of time for all parties.

THE INTERVENTION OF TRANSITION MANAGERS?

However, team meetings seem to be a fundamental basis of business communication.
During a project involving several teams or collaborators, communication by simple emails, or exchanges between two individuals alone cannot constitute team communication.
To do this, here are some points with which interim managers are well accustomed, which allow excellent team meetings.

• Plan an agenda:

Send the meeting agenda to all participants as soon as possible. Indeed, if you prepare the ideas to be discussed during the meeting, you can set the tempo.

• Ask participants to prepare:

Deliberately allow time before the meeting for all participants to familiarize themselves with this agenda. Gradually, this must become a corporate habit.

• Keep it short!

Plan an agenda with a maximum of 3 points. Beyond that, ideas will be sloppy or perceived as unimportant. Your time management at these meetings will be seen by all. Enforce the time limits for each point. And honestly, who has time to deal with more than 3 points in a team meeting?

• Plan times when employees speak in front of the teams:

The meeting is not just about one person. Make sure that everyone can regularly take part in a meeting, by preparing a report for a few minutes, for example.

• Ban PowerPoint reports:

It is generally endless, unsightly and useless. Who remembers the graphics on each page at the end of a meeting? If some graphics must be projected, make sure they are clear, simple, and a necessity for all participants.

• Assign tasks to each:

For a meeting to be effective, you have to come out with twice as much work to accomplish as when you came in. Take the time to give concrete objectives to the majority of participants, with deadlines to respect. This promotes productivity.

PRODUCTIVITY ABOVE ALL!

A good manager gives and shares his taste for success with his teams. Its purpose is to drive the business forward, and that translates into productivity. Interim managers are productivity experts. Their enthusiasm and passion for their mission are almost contagious. They are therefore perfect masters of healthy, productive and lively team meetings.

Other techniques exist to promote long-term productivity. For example, personally check in with everyone you’ve given responsibility to. No need to bring the whole team together again to “take stock”. Use team meetings sparingly: they should be a time enjoyed by everyone, with frank and open communication.