Manage My Employees

Pointless or boring staff meetings are a colossal waste of everyone’s time. Fortunately however, that doesn’t have to be the case. To make staff meetings relevant and highly productive you can try a few road-tested tips:

• Begin by asking for good news. What has happened in your area that’s positive? This sets a proper tone for your meeting and encouraging news helps keep attitudes positive.

• Discuss key performance measures. Focus on the results of the team’s performance, and give equal attention to the good as well as the bad. Present all the numbers without getting sidetracked. This will help keep everyone engaged and involved.
• Have open and honest dialogue about cause-effects for performance results. Ask people to explain the results and pinpoint root problems, as appropriate. Don’t be a receptive listener for the ‘blame game’… dig for root cause.
• Brainstorm ways to make improvements or solve problems. Ask for ideas, don’t give yours just yet. Hold back until everyone has voiced their thoughts, then offer your own. Getting people to take increased responsibility for results requires successful delegation and empowerment from you.
• Create an action plan with goals, action steps and deadlines. The point is to move all dialogue to action. Your people will be motivated if they see you’re serious about taking action and making improvements—versus just talking about it.

Staff meetings don’t have to be disliked or unproductive. You can guide your people to be engaged, take staff meetings seriously and support the actions of the team.