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So you think that staff meetings are a waste of time? Maybe...better
think again. There is a critical link between well-run staff meetings
and your ability to achieve business objectives. Even if you don't
agree, read this article, and you may never underestimate the value of
staff meetings again. Put these meeting principles to work, and you’ll
be transformed into a "staff meeting champion."
The feature article of our January Newsletter was "Making Meetings More
Productive." In this article, we highlight Staff Meetings—the secret to
engage your employees’ hearts and minds. There is no better way to keep
your staff connected, focused and motivated than a well-run staff
meeting. Most organizations, however, don’t hold company-wide, regularly
scheduled staff meetings, and those that do—do it poorly.
Staff Meeting Focus Areas
Staff meetings typically focus on information sharing. Unfortunately
there is woefully little sharing, since the boss often does most of the
talking, with little input from staff. Staff meetings should focus on
four fundamental areas. These are:
|
Focus Area |
% of
Time |
| Information
Sharing |
10 |
| Goal Setting
and Deployment |
20 |
| Work Climate
Improvement |
20 |
| Process
Improvement |
50 |
Staff meetings should begin with information sharing. This includes, but
should not be limited to, company-wide accomplishments, priorities,
customer issues, and other department level relevant feedback. About 20%
of the time spent in staff meetings should focus on either goal setting,
or progress toward reaching goals and objectives. Employees lend their
greatest support to objectives they help set. This is the ideal time to
discuss roadblocks and other challenges, and to brainstorm ways to get
back on track.
Work climate focuses on communication, leadership style, empowerment,
team building, rewards and recognition, resources, and infrastructure.
It is important to address work climate issues and explore continual
improvement opportunities. About 50% of your meeting time should focus
on process improvement. Processes are the fundamental building blocks
for achieving business results, and streamlined processes are critical
to building and maintaining a competitive edge.
Creative Problem Solving
It’s been said that "if you are not part of the solution—you are part of
the problem." Creative problem solving should be central to all staff
meetings. Group discussion should foster reaching decisions by
consensus. Many problems can be solved during the actual meeting. Where
more time and analysis are needed, an "action team" should be formed.
Once the team solves the problem, it could report results during the
next scheduled staff meeting.
It’s important to note that you don’t need to address each of the four
focus areas during every staff meeting. Over a series of meetings, the
time spent on these areas should generally follow the suggested
percentages. Creative problem solving, however, should be central to all
staff meetings. It can be used to extinguish many brush fires, and to
improve overall effectiveness and efficiency.
The Linking Pin Organization
There are many advantages to company-wide staff meetings. They are a
golden opportunity to involve everyone in the business. Stress is
lowered when employees realize that they have much more input into
decisions that affect their jobs. And the "linking pin organization"
that is created will help everyone realize they are part of a critical
"customer service chain."
Since everyone will be part of a regularly scheduled staff meeting, each
employee will have a greater sense of contribution in shaping his/her
work climate and the ability to streamline cumbersome, error-prone
processes. Moreover, staff meetings provide the opportunity to involve
all employees in the cascade goal setting and deployment process. This
"alignment" ensures that everyone is focused in a spirited drive to
achieve business objectives.
Learn how CMC can assist your
organization in
Leadership Development.
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