Why Staff Meetings Are Vital
Ever think that staff meetings are a waste of time? If you want a vibrant and healthy staff – staff meetings are essential. Several years ago, we had a difficult time getting anyone to attend our staff meetings. Now they are the highlight of everyone’s week. Here are the four P’s keys to great staff meetings – and by extension – a great team.
The Purpose
Staff meetings should be designed to celebrate the great things that are happening in your business and to let everyone know what’s going on. They should be fun, celebratory, include some words of encouragement and have some kind of food.
The Program
We have found that the best day of the week for staff meetings is Wednesday. The best time is at 10:00 am. The perfect length is one hour (not more). Have some kind of food. We’ve found that even the most diligent dieters go weak over really good donuts (and get really mad when you forget them).
We recommend a time of celebration over what took place last week. Simply ask anyone to give a report on something great that happened in their department or area they work in the past week. Let this go on for about 5-7 minutes.
Next we often do shout-outs for people you saw that did something extraordinary over the past week. It could even be something outside the office and unrelated to work. Someone who you saw go above and beyond their normal duties. This can go on for another 5-7 minutes.
Then talk about the upcoming weekend. Don’t go into great detail, just enough to let everyone know what’s going on the next week and what you’re trying to accomplish. Is there a way to make the goal fun? Try to make it something to accomplish that everyone will want to accomplish. 5-7 minutes for this too.
Finally, can you give everyone some encouraging words. What great things are going on in the company? How is the company growing and winning at what you’re trying to accomplish? Where are you headed and how why is your company still a great place to work and have a career?
End the meeting by thanking everyone for attending and tell them you’re glad they are on the team.
Save the details for how you do business, the messy things that need to be cleaned up and the things that need to be corrected for one-on-one meetings or smaller department meetngs.
The Participants
Invite everyone who helps make your business tick to your staff meetings. This means part-time employees, full-time employees and invited guests who happen to be in town that have a connection to your business. Ever consider inviting customers to your staff meetings? What if they saw how great it was to work for your company and hear what everyone is excited about and why you do what you do. If they had a great experience, they would tell all their friends about it and help grow your business.
Next Steps
If you would like additional information on how to become a Super Coach with Super Performers, we recommend attending one of our Business Goals Advanced Leadership classes. Classes start every month, are limited to about 12 people for maximum participation and interaction. For more information, follow this link