Team meetings if done well can bring a team together, and can act as an important tool for communication. However, if done wrongly, it can drain out a lot of time and energy from team members.
Team meetings have been a hotly debated topic over the years. There are several completely opposite views here, some managers vouch by team meetings and there are others who completely resent it. Some companies have weekly meetings, others daily, and a select few meet as and when required.
Anybody that has been in business over a period of time knows that meetings can sometimes be a complete waste of time. There are other times when they foster creativity, team bonding, knowledge transfer, and are necessary for business communication.
Bruce Dugan, CEO of a software company in Bangalore, India says, “We are a very small team with an informal culture. We are interacting every single day. I don’t really see a need for a formal meeting. However, meetings can be called for by managers as and when required. Our philosophy has been to make use of every minute of our time productively. All our company communications are sent through our enterprise system. The only regular meeting I have is on Saturdays with my business partner, because we only meet once a week, and through the week we are busy doing other projects. This gives us an opportunity to update each other with what is going on. I’m not for or against regular business meetings, but it all boils down to what works for your specific company.”
If your company has regular meetings, let’s identify methods to make these meetings more productive.
#1 Have An Agenda
It’s always important to know the exact purpose of your meeting. If you have weekly meetings, it could be to discuss your weekly goals, activities, and communicate any new opportunities that have come up through the week.
Afzal Khan, AM for a multi-national company (that is a marketplace for services), StarOfService says “We have a weekly meeting with our Country Managers to discuss our weekly goals, and to report and resolve any issues that they’ve faced through the week. CMs can also ask questions that can be answered by anybody on the team not just the Area Manager. This is very important to us because all our Country Managers are located in different countries. It also creates a sense of belonging and bonding.”
#2 Don’t just make it about work
The happiest employees are usually the most productive. Team meetings can be an opportunity for your team to bond, interact, help each other out, and come up with ideas in a fun environment. In some companies, a Monday morning or Friday evening meeting is a fun ritual rather than a grind. Veer Gidwany mentioned in an article on Inc, that the premium services infrastructure unit at Yahoo has meetings every Friday which is an informal gathering for employees to share ideas and connect. He further goes on to add that in his company, they usually ban computers, provide food, give important updates, and show appreciation to their team. He believes their weekly meetings are important for their company.
#3 Allow Team Members To Ask Questions
This is a great time to let team members ask any questions. It lets employees ask management the tough questions. So information flows both ways – from the bottom up and from the top down.
Although a lot of people believe that team meetings can sometimes take time away from more important activities; if managed well, they can foster creativity and productivity, and keep the team focused on what is truly important for your business.
