Part of keeping a new business successful involves regularly talking to your staff. Here are the benefits of regular team meetings for small businesses.
Most business owners would agree that regular team meetings are vital for the success of their company. Interestingly, 71% of senior management say meetings are inefficient and unproductive. Does this mean team meetings are a waste of time? Far from it! Talking to employees and getting feedback is essential as you work towards your long-term business goals. This is especially true in the COVID-19 era when one in four Americans works from home. With your team scattered and working in separate locations, regular staff meetings are more important than ever before!
The key to success lies in setting a clear agenda and goals for each meeting. Here are five ways your team meetings are sure to benefit everyone involved.
1. Provides Meaningful Updates
“Meaningful” is the keyword here, as a long list of boring statistics will surely make everyone tune out.
An informed employee is empowered to do their job well, so be sure your staff knows what’s happening in the company. Is there a seasonal promotion or a big charity event coming up? Have there been changes in management or company structure?
Your employees need to understand their role in these updates. How have the changes impacted them, or how can they expect to be affected? Make it personal, relevant, and meaningful.
Keep in mind that a “team” meeting doesn’t necessarily involve every member of your staff. For certain discussions, you may only need certain employees or supervisors present. Don’t waste time calling a meeting for your entire team unless the information is relevant to everybody.
2. Increases Engagement
The best team meetings allow for meaningful interaction between staff members. The more engaged everyone is during the session, the better the outcome.
As you prepare for the meeting, create a list of questions to stimulate group discussion. If you have certain staff members who don’t often speak up, ask them to share their input. (You may want to ask them to prepare something beforehand so you don’t put them on the spot.)
Depending on your staff’s size and the meeting’s length, allow everyone to share their thoughts. Ask questions and steer the conversation in a way that assures everyone their ideas and perspectives are appreciated.
Who knows? One of these collaborative brainstorming sessions could provide the creative idea or new solution you’ve sought.
3. Promotes Leadership & Teamwork
Assure your team that you want to hear their ideas and feedback. Ask them beforehand to write down any challenges they’re facing and their thoughts on possible solutions.
You may need to discuss problems or challenges, but keep the meeting’s tone positive. Focus on goals, dreams, and problem-solving techniques. Encourage your workers to develop an action plan and empower them to put it into practice.
Of course, you want to be viewed as a leader everyone can trust. At the same time, try to keep team meetings relaxed and informal so everyone feels free to express themselves. You can visit this website for more information about fostering meaningful leadership within your organization.
4. Offers Training Opportunities
Are you getting ready to launch a new product or service? Will all or part of your team continue to work remotely after the pandemic?
Whatever changes your company is facing, use team meetings to prepare your staff for them.
Can you bring in a guest speaker to motivate everyone to hit their sales goals? Can one of your supervisors prepare a presentation explaining the best features of your new product? Can you arrange a training session so everyone knows how to use the company software while working remotely?
Your needs will depend on your business’s nature, but team meetings are a great way to impart knowledge to your staff. Even if you’re working together in the same office, remember that not all meetings need to be in-person. You can accomplish many of the same goals with remote staff meetings.
5. Increases Accountability
As a team meeting leader, your role is to ensure everyone feels that their work (and their opinion) is valued. Creating this positive atmosphere will make everyone more comfortable and confident in accepting new assignments.
Saying “yes” to a project in a group setting carries more weight than accepting it via a private email or text. Employees will feel more accountable to their team members with all eyes on them. They’ll also understand the value of their assignment and how it relates to the team as a whole.
This creates the motivation needed to tackle and complete those individual and team assignments. Youu should summarize the action items you discussed at the end of each team meeting. Briefly review who’s responsible for each item and when each task is due. Soon after the meeting, follow up with each individual via email or project management tool to ensure they understand their commitments.
Team Meetings = Team Success
Teamwork is the only way to achieve long-term business goals. The best way to foster collaboration is to hold regular team meetings with your staff.
Whether you can meet in person or need to hold remote staff meetings, ensure you have regular meetups on the schedule. Review the points listed above to refresh your memory on the purpose of team meetings and how they help to meet your long-term business goals.
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