Invest 30 Minutes & Save A Day of Chaos!

Think back to the last five challenges you have had in your business involving your team. It is most likely that they may have been avoided with clearer communication – and possibly a meeting.

I hear you say, “But meetings are boring and a waste of time!”
Meetings don't need to be boring. Boring meetings are usually run by boring people!

In fact, a successful meeting structure in your business will:

1. Provide clarity - reducing the ‘gaps’ in communication within teams, in turn minimising reactive conversations and ‘putting out fires’
2. Ensure key priorities are being implemented
3. Help you act quickly, maximise opportunities and relieve bottlenecks fast and effectively
4. Build a solid, stable team and culture
5. Align and connect your team to focus on a common goal/outcome and embrace the power of collective intelligence.
6. Over time - reduce the reliance of the business on the owner

These meetings can be powerful, prompt and to the point when you follow a structure. Below is a suggested agenda/flow, together with some key points to consider.

Highlight/Good News & Core Values Story

• Individuals take turns to share a ‘good news’ story/wins/personal highlight from the previous week in the business and highlight the people involved in making it happen. It continuously reminds the team of the great work that is being done.
• At the same time each team member has an opportunity to acknowledge a fellow team member for a behaviour that took place in the previous period that relates to one of your specific Core Values. This conversation will build the Core Values into your business and make your team feel appreciated about what they did.

Current Status

• Discuss current projects and how they are tracking in relation to schedules and budget. Are projects on track/off track? What needs to be adjusted if any to get back on track. Is additional client communication required, or extra labour/management required? 
• Are there any gaps/breakdowns that have occurred that need addressing to avoid a repeat situation in the weeks ahead. These could be frustrations/hassles that have occurred, which cost time and money. This could be with projects or customers. Discuss potential solutions or set a time to handle more detailed challenges.
• Share important numbers that are part of your monthly/quarterly targets. People like to be involved in a game. If you don’t have any to share, then chat to a coach at PROTRADE United about what these KPI’s could be.

What’s On For The Week Ahead

• Discuss projects, schedules, and important operational items. Where are projects expected to be completed by end of the week.
• What roadblocks or challenges are there, may arise, and what can be responded to?
• What extra materials are required than can be ordered to avoid reactive trips to suppliers?
• What re-scheduling communication is required to improve operational efficiencies?

Systems/Training

• Use this as an opportunity to remind your team of key processes that need to be followed to ensure consistent outcomes and/or use this as an opportunity to train/upskill your team in a particular area.
• Remember to prepare yourself for this aspect of this session. Have written procedures, video and/or examples ready to use to enable greater understanding of what is required. There will always be something to discuss. You just need to be proactive and set a calendar for the next 4-6 weeks of topics.

Examples could include:

• Quality Assurance/Handover Checklists
• Communication between office and team on site
• Specific skills/techniques
• Handling difficult customers
• Software usage
• Safety
• Punctuality
• Job site cleanliness

Wrap Up

• Close the meeting with a commitment from each team player as to what is the number one item/action they are going to complete between now and the next meeting.
• Thank everyone and wish them all the best for the week.
• File key notes from the meeting to review next meeting, or if any follow up is required.

 Key Points for Holding Weekly Meetings

• Depending on the size of your business you may hold just one meeting for everyone (up to 10 people), or separate meetings for different departments. Such as service/installation, office/admin, fabrication/manufacturing. If this is the case, it will be important to get the heads of department together in a separate weekly meeting.
• Hold the meetings at the same time each week, and for 30-40 minutes maximum.
• Dial in/Zoom/Facetime team players who are not able to attend in person.
• Have a set agenda and stick to it. Start on time. Finish on time.
• Only one person to speak at a time. No talking over the top. Respect is important.
• Discuss only items that happened in the previous week/upcoming week. Bigger picture and more strategic items can be tables for monthly/quarterly meetings.
• If items come up that only include one or two people, take them ‘offline’ to discuss, instead of using up the time of everyone in attendance.
• Commit to your meetings.

Implementing a rhythm of effective communication takes time, especially if this concept is new to your business. However, adapt the above to your business, commit to a plan and learn how to run effective meetings. It just could transform your business and save you the headaches!

Written by Jon Mailer
PROTRADE United
CEO& Founder