Wider World of Business

Monday Meeting Hell? – Four Tips for a More Effective Team Meeting

By: Joe Jones
Originally published: The Rainmaker Group, Inc.

The Monday morning sales meeting, a time-honored tradition among Fortune 100 companies to small local organizations, and everyone in between. These meetings are typically an attempt to add value by creating direction, focus and motivating the team for the upcoming week.

Notice I used the word "attempt"....

Although teams ritually converge on Mondays to help "jump start" their week, these meetings can easily become a huge time waster and actually negatively affect the upcoming week if not executed effectively.

C-Level Leaders and Managers alike, should be analyzing their current meeting structure and objectives, and ask themselves - Are these meetings really necessary? Do they add value to the team? Or are we just having them so that we can put a "check in the box" next to Conducted Team Meeting?

If executed correctly, meetings can provide a significant Return-on-Investment of a team's time and energy. Effectively run meetings clearly set out the direction and objectives, while providing valuable resources and feedback to help drive individual team members and the entire team towards their stated goals.

If run poorly, they can be a complete waste of time, and actually have a negative impact on the team's performance moving forward.

Have you ever been through an aimlessly led meeting with a "hodge-podge" of topics with no clear direction? How did it effect your week?

4 Tips for a More Effective Meeting Strategy:

1. Create an agenda and stick to it. Meetings that go off on tangents or are nothing more than rambling discussions can sap the energy of team members heading into the week.
    
   
2. Set expectations. Use this meeting with team members as a time to set specific expectations for each team member: What measurable actions will you take this week to achieve the desired outcome? Team members should come to the meetings with the week already mapped out.
    
   
3. Attentive follow-up. Use this time to create accountability through metrics tracking, performance management and updates. (Waiting until the end of the quarter, or even the end of the month may already be to late to address issues that crop up).
    
   
4. Don't forget to celebrate success. High performance among team members should be singled out and acknowledged.

Based in Bismarck, N.D., The Rainmaker Group helps companies maximize their possibilities through better talent management.