What Makes a Staff Meeting Actually Produce Results (Five Patterns Managers Already Get Wrong)

Staff meetings fail in predictable patterns. Five of them account for about 80% of the wasted meeting time on the average manager’s calendar. The five are not obvious to the manager running the meeting — they feel like good meeting hygiene. They look like good meeting hygiene. They are also the reason your team shows up with laptops open and half-checked-out.

The five patterns: (1) the “round-the-room update” that shares information to a room that already has it. (2) The “covered it” item with no decision attached. (3) The manager’s recap that turns attention into passive listening. (4) The anxiety-driven status item that could have been an email. (5) The end-of-meeting “any other items?” that opens the meeting back up just as everyone was leaving. Each pattern feels like good management. Each pattern teaches the team that meetings produce information, not decisions.

Below is what to do instead of each of the five (five swaps, each costing zero dollars), why the swaps install themselves as team habits once the manager practices them for three weeks, and how the participant-driven frame from the Learn2 Communicate Naturally program turns a staff meeting from a weekly ritual into a weekly decision engine.

A staff meeting can be a valuable source of information and inspiration when done right. On the other hand, it can be absolutely disastrous and a complete waste of everyone’s time. The fact of the matter is that any successful meeting requires certain levels of planning, research and dedication. This type of meeting needs to be a platform on which all employees can communicate on level ground.  

WHAT IS THE MAIN AIM OF STAFF MEETINGS?

Essentially, a weekly staff meeting should be designed as a way for employees of all levels to communicate with each other. People within any particular company need to know where everyone stands in relation to the company goals. They need to know where they are, where they need to be and what their level of progress is.  

A SUCCESSFUL STAFF MEETING IS NOT A MOANING SESSION

If there is one thing we all need to remember, it is that staff meetings are not designed to be a platform for bellyaching. A meeting is certainly no place to air out dirty laundry. Any issues reported need to have a direct link to the company’s goals and how best to achieve them — the rest need to be dealt with in a different manner entirely. Staff members should be encouraged to voice constructive criticisms. The best way to ensure this happens, is to mention that any issue needs to be accompanied by a potential solution to the problem.  

EFFECTIVE MEETINGS SHOULD HAVE AN AGENDA

Before you start your meetings, make sure that all staff members are fully aware of the purpose of the meeting. Will the purpose be related to communicating important information? Do you need to strengthen professional relationships within the company? Are there any impending decisions that need to be made? Defining a clear purpose for the meeting will assist in building up a strong and concise structure. Once your employees are aware of the purpose of the meeting, it will be easier to set up an agenda. Make sure that you know which subjects need to be discussed and be careful to allot a certain amount of time to each one.  

SETTING THE TONE OF THE MEETING

The tone of any meeting is fairly important simply because it provides employees with some indication as to how they are expected to behave. Should the meeting be formal or fairly laid back? Are you addressing serious issues or are you merely completing a weekly update? Knowing how to set the tone of the meeting will eliminate any communication issues right off the bat. The bottom line when it comes to meetings, is making sure that everyone is fully aware of the situation going in. Planning an effective staff meeting is all about carrying across information in such a way that people are not particularly surprised by it.