Do you think team meetings are a waste of time?
They don’t have to be. Find out how you can have better meetings in your business.
I used to hate team meetings.
I thought they were unproductive and a complete waste of time. But like everybody, I knew I had to do them. So, I kept holding and joining team meetings.
And while I was at it, I would sit there and calculate how much it would cost me to pay the people that I was having a meeting with. If I were meeting with ten people, I’d do the math to find out how much an hour of the meeting would cost my business.
This left me wondering…
Why are we really doing this?
Now, over the last two decades, my relationship with team meetings has drastically changed for the better. Things have been way different. In fact, I now honestly love meetings. And I now think that they are one of the most productive ways CEOs could spend their time.
The reason why I changed my mind is simple:
I learned how to do better team meetings.
And in this article, I’d let you in on my secret.
The Two Must-Have Meetings
If you can relate to my previous self’s hatred for meetings, then let me make things clear:
There are only two meetings you must have in your business.
No matter what industry you belong to, you only need to have at least the following meetings in your business:
Meeting #1 – 1:1 Meetings
These are the most important kinds of meetings you can do in your business. Not only is this applicable to your employees but it’s also helpful to do 1:1 meetings with contractors and other stakeholders. I mean, it’s pretty inevitable, right?
Whether you’re doing it in person or through any online channel, doing 1:1 meetings is a must.
But here’s the thing: Even if 1:1 meetings are important, that doesn’t mean you’re required to meet every single member of your team at regular intervals. That would be a waste of your precious time as a CEO.
Unless you’re just starting out, then you don’t have to do it with everyone. What I do is I only meet with the people who directly report to me. In other words, I meet with all of my managers. And my managers will then hold 1:1 meetings with the rest of the team.
The goal of 1:1 meetings is to help everyone get caught up with what happened in the previous week. Usually, you can do 1:1 meetings every week, or at least every 2 weeks. But if you’re working with a part-time contractor… then setting a monthly 1:1 meeting would suffice.
Meeting #2 – Weekly Meetings
Obviously, if you only have one other person on your team, then you’re good with just the 1:1 meetings, right? But if you have more than one team member, you can also hold a collective team meeting.
During these group meetings, you look back at your roadmap. You check your goals and review the things you’ve done and have yet to do. Also, you look at your critical numbers and revenue goals to get everyone on the same page.
What’s more, we find out our strengths and weaknesses each week. We also celebrate our wins… and then work to find a way to improve our processes for the next week.
Now, when I say that having 1:1 meetings and weekly meetings are all you need… that doesn’t mean you can’t have anything more than these two. Just think of them as the bare minimum to get you and your team on the right track.
3 Tips for Better Team Meetings
Tip #1: Create an Agenda
If you want better meetings, you need to ensure that people follow the agenda you’ve created to the tee. This will cut down on small talk and people who like going off on tangents.
Creating an agenda before the meeting helps you prioritize the things you need to cover. And it will also ensure that your team will come to the meeting prepared.
Tip #2: Don’t Set an End Time
When I say no set end time… I don’t mean that you’d go to meetings for hours and hours on end. Obviously, you need to put an end time to your meetings in your calendar.
But my point is this: If a meeting should have lasted for an hour but you finished in 45 minutes or less… then there’s no point in keeping everyone in. You don’t need to have everyone stick around in the meeting room and wait until the entire hour is up.
When I say that you don’t have to set an end time, it means having a maximum time limit for meetings. But the goal would always be to finish them faster. Keep in mind that it also doesn’t mean you’d breeze through the agenda without letting your team digest or ask questions.
Meetings cost money. And that’s mostly because it takes time off our regular schedules. But it can also make you money, especially if you do them right.
Tip #3: Put a Leader in Charge
The last tip to have better meetings is to put someone in charge. The meeting leader doesn’t really have to be a manager. It doesn’t even have to be you. They could be anybody who could take charge of the agenda.
And here’s why I love this: When someone else takes charge of the agenda, I get to sit there and be active. And I get to participate and contribute to the meeting, versus thinking about the agenda all the time.
Doing this allows you to be a creative visionary and be fully present. And it will make a huge, huge difference in your meetings.
Hold Better Meetings
Team meetings are crucial to the success of any business. Meetings ensure that goals are met and essential information is passed to the right people.
But meetings only work if they are done correctly and promptly.
So, make sure you create an agenda, don’t set an end time, and designate a leader during every meeting. That’s how you can reap the full benefits of holding them.
Now, if you need more assistance on how to apply any of the tips in this article, don’t hesitate to reach out. Schedule a free strategy session with one of our scale specialists so we can help. Book a call here: www.stacytuschl.com/call.
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