Do you spend too much of your time in meetings? Are your team meetings repetitive and unproductive? You are not alone. Over the past half century the time business executives spend in weekly meetings has more than doubled. What’s more, many employees consider team meetings a complete waste of time. However, a well-run meeting can enhance collaboration, creativity, and teamwork in a way that nothing else can. Here we will discuss the downsides of meetings and how they can be restructured to be a positive force for productivity in your business.
The Downsides of Meetings
We’ve all spent time in meetings that were dull, unproductive, or stressful. In one survey of senior managers across industries, the majority of them reported that they considered meetings to be unproductive and inefficient. Rather than bring teams together, they thought that they missed opportunities for building team trust and cooperation. What’s more, their meetings ate into time that could have been spent productively and sidetracked workers, interrupting their creative thought process and destroying focus.
For some, meetings don’t just waste time, they cost them the ability to do their jobs well and require them to work harder or stay later just to accomplish their required tasks. This is truly a net loss for a company.
Restructure Your Team Meetings
It doesn’t have to be this way, though. Meetings can be better structured for team building and collaboration as well as accountability. Here are some ways you can make company meetings more effective and useful for you and your team.
Ask for input from your team members – Chances are your team already knows what isn’t working in their team meetings. Ask each team member to give their honest opinion about the good, the bad, and the ugly – and take that input seriously. You will get a variety of responses, and that’s fine. What works for one employee may not work for another. With enough input, though, you should be able to gauge the mood of your team and get an idea of what needs to change.
Discuss this input together – Next, you’ll need to have a team meeting about team meetings. Make sure your team knows that everyone’s feedback is valued and heard, and keep this discussion as open and uncritical as possible. The goal here is to get your team members’ to understand and cooperate with any changes you will have to make to the meeting structure.
Decide your goals together – Once your team has come to a consensus about what needs to change, set new, specific goals for your team members and make accommodations in the work schedule. You might declare certain days meeting free or pare down the list of who needs to attend which meetings. You may find that eliminating “pointless” meetings from your company’s work schedule has an energizing effect on your workforce and increases productivity right away. This is especially true if some of your team members do not get along or appreciate each other.
Monitor progress and make adjustments as goals are met or missed – The goals you set for your teams should have milestones attached, so you can evaluate objectively whether the adjustments to the meeting schedule and structure are working and improving productivity and morale.
Allow your team to weigh in and give feedback on the changes as well. You may choose to survey them again in six months or ask them for their ideas individually to get a better idea of how individuals are adjusting to the new team-meeting structure. You can ask them how they are feeling about the changes and if they are having a positive effect on their individual work.
With new feedback, make changes as necessary.
Introduce accountability in your meetings – Meetings are a good time to ask questions of your employees. Ask them what they are having trouble with and what their challenges are. Being held accountable before a group of people is a powerful motivator for many people to work harder or more effectively. Often other employees may have good suggestions to offer their coworkers on how they can get “unstuck” or offer to collaborate with them on solving more difficult problems. This can build trust, cooperation, and teamwork over time.
Many workers resent and dread team meetings for good reason, but meetings can also be used effectively to brainstorm, inspire, encourage, and help employees do their jobs better. They can be a powerful tool when used correctly.
If your company’s meetings are not resulting in better team performance, Prometis Partners can help. We can offer an objective view on your organization and improve its cooperation, structure, and productivity. Call us directly or schedule a meeting with Vincent Mastrovito today.
