Tips for Effective Team Meetings
Team meetings are crucial for every business. Through these meetings, employees understand what’s going on with the company and what goals they need to attain, for the company to achieve its mission. It is also a time where team members can share their concerns, ideas, ask questions, get important information, and feel that they are actually a team. However, if not conducted well, your team might dread and hate these meetings. So how do you ensure your team meetings run effectively?
Here are some tips for effective team meetings
Set and share the meeting agenda
Always set the agenda(s) for each and every team meeting. Make a point to share the agenda items with your team prior to the meeting. This will help them be better prepared for the meeting. They will get a chance to gather their thoughts on the items. Anyone can add in new agenda items or context to existing items. It will also aid in prioritizing what’s discussed during the meeting.
Only include relevant people
Who is the meeting for? Only include team members who are required in that meeting. If it’s a team meeting for one department, do not include a member from another department. This will save everybody’s time.
Leverage technology
In this era of hybrid offices, leverage technology for inclusivity. Use conferencing tools such as Zoom, Google Hangouts and Microsoft Teams to enable remote team mates to join the meetings. You can also use a screen to project the items on the agenda as the meeting progresses.
Time frame
Time is money. It is very important to respect each individual’s time. This means that when you show up late without apology to the meeting, you’re doing a disservice to the entire team. Also, allocate adequate time for each agenda. Do not give the main agenda 5 minutes at the end of the meeting. This will lead to overstepping past the agreed ending time. It will cause inconvenience to some members of the team.
Foster a culture of participation
Encourage your team to speak up during meetings. You can do so by asking the opinion of every individual member on a matter of concern. Create an environment where the team feels like their opinions are valued. They will be more open to participate when they know they will be listened to and their contributions taken into account.
Do a meeting audit once in a while
This will help you know whether the meetings are crucial for you and your team. Are your employees benefitting from these meetings? What results do you get from each meeting? Do you manage to achieve the set goal for every meeting? If not, what can you do to improve on that?
Team meetings should not feel like an uphill task. They should be a place and time where productivity oozes out. Effective team meetings should be time conscious, interactive and inclusive at all times.