Meetings – the bane of many a businessperson’s existence. We spend so much time in meetings that some days it’s hard to get any work done. Yet, without regular meetings, would we be able to effectively function at the office? “Yes!” cries the camp against weekly meetings, “they take up way too much of our time.” “No,” counters the opposition, “we need them to share information, make decisions and keep in touch.”
Who is right? There are pros and cons to holding regular staff meetings. A poorly run meeting begins with the reason it’s being held. Expecting everyone to troop into the boardroom each and every Monday morning; connecting with out-of-town staff by Skype or conference call, just because someone once said that holding a regular staff meeting is a good idea – is not the start of a worthwhile meeting.
A meeting should have a specific purpose and a set agenda. If staff rarely has an opportunity to gather, it can be a good idea to touch base, but weekly might be too often. To determine what’s right for your workplace or department, first consider why you want to hold a meeting. Is it to review everyone’s schedules? Is it to hash over last week’s activities or discuss what’s on the horizon? None of these constitutes a solid reason to take people away from their real jobs. Online calendars make it easy to determine if there is enough office coverage for the week and sharing monthly activity report brings everyone up to date. Specific projects require participation by specific people, so holding a meeting limited to key stakeholders is a practical idea. Other employees can get on with their daily work and be kept informed by bulletins or at a monthly meeting.
Effective meetings are scheduled in advance, have a specific purpose and have a solid agenda. Some managers expect staff to drop everything for an unscheduled meeting when they (the manager) run into a problem of some sort. Meetings like this are rarely fruitful, and cause disruption and stress for attendees already busy with a full day of work.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the total absence of staff meetings. Some organizations do not hold any meetings where staff comes together in groups, either by department or division. This can cause a sense of unimportance in even the most loyal employee and result in a feeling of limited worth, which in turn, develops into a lack of interest and effort.
So what’s the answer?
Seasoned managers recognize the importance of regular communication with staff. This can be done in many different ways, including person-to-person discussions, small group gatherings around someone’s desk, project progress bulletins, special announcements and yes, a regularly scheduled staff meeting – but not quite so often, or quite so long.
Limit the length to half an hour, send out the agenda in advance and stick to those topics. Don’t use the staff meeting to brainstorm or problem solve, and don’t allow anyone to sabotage it by going off on tangents or introducing non-agenda topics. Have minutes drawn up and ask for requests for new business topics and add them to the next meeting agenda. Delegate some pre-work investigation of these topics, to keep the next meeting short and sweet too.
What’s your pet peeve about staff meetings? Your best tip for effective meetings? Send us your thoughts and we’ll invite you to one of our staff meetings. Just kidding.