ARTICLE
Why do it? Do your direct reports look forward to team meetings as an opportunity for animated discussion of vital information and ideas to propel their work forward? Or, is it more like they show up on autopilot, ready to endure the same old routine until it’s time to go back to their desks? There’s one way to determine where people stand and make your meetings better: Ask the team directly what’s working and what should change. How to do it: 1. Let your team know at least one day in advance that you’re adding a team meeting assessment to the agenda. You’re already sending meeting agendas to your team ahead of time, right? When you do, include a short note: “This week, I’d like to take some time to look at how we can improve the quality of our team meetings. Please come prepared to share ideas about what you think is working well and what we should change.” 2. Include a list of questions to inspire an open and honest conversation. You can help people feel comfortable critiquing the meeting by adding a question at the end of your list that includes your own self-assessment. For example, “What about how I’m leading the meeting? I often feel like I do too much of the talking.” Other questions might include: “What are the most valuable things you get out of our meetings?” “What issues would you like to address that we haven’t been addressing?” “Are there things we routinely cover that you see as unimportant?” 3. During the meeting, have one person to record the team’s input on a “plus/delta” chart. Anything your direct reports think is a strength of the team meeting goes in the plus column. Things that should change go in the delta column. By having someone else do the recording on the chart, you’ll be free to lead the discussion. 4. Ask follow-up questions to home in on concrete improvements you can make to the meeting. As items get added to the plus/delta list, dig with open-ended questions that could lead to meeting improvements, like, “Why do you think that isn’t working?” or “What’s a way we could do that more efficiently?” If your team seems reluctant to suggest changes or stumped on the spot, try following up individually during your next 1-on-1s until the team has articulated concrete changes to improve the meeting. 5. Make the suggested changes, and periodically check in. At the end of the next couple of meetings, spend a few minutes discussing whether the changes are working. If not, tweak. If so, keep going and consider doing a periodic assessment (perhaps once per quarter) to see if you can make your meetings even better.
Why do it? Do your direct reports look forward to team meetings as an opportunity for animated discussion of vital information and ideas to propel their work forward? Or, is it more like they show up on autopilot, ready to endure the same old routine until it’s time to go back to their desks? There’s one way to determine where people stand and make your meetings better: Ask the team directly what’s working and what should change.
How to do it: 1. Let your team know at least one day in advance that you’re adding a team meeting assessment to the agenda. You’re already sending meeting agendas to your team ahead of time, right? When you do, include a short note: “This week, I’d like to take some time to look at how we can improve the quality of our team meetings. Please come prepared to share ideas about what you think is working well and what we should change.”
2. Include a list of questions to inspire an open and honest conversation. You can help people feel comfortable critiquing the meeting by adding a question at the end of your list that includes your own self-assessment. For example, “What about how I’m leading the meeting? I often feel like I do too much of the talking.” Other questions might include:
“What are the most valuable things you get out of our meetings?” “What issues would you like to address that we haven’t been addressing?” “Are there things we routinely cover that you see as unimportant?” 3. During the meeting, have one person to record the team’s input on a “plus/delta” chart. Anything your direct reports think is a strength of the team meeting goes in the plus column. Things that should change go in the delta column. By having someone else do the recording on the chart, you’ll be free to lead the discussion.
4. Ask follow-up questions to home in on concrete improvements you can make to the meeting. As items get added to the plus/delta list, dig with open-ended questions that could lead to meeting improvements, like, “Why do you think that isn’t working?” or “What’s a way we could do that more efficiently?” If your team seems reluctant to suggest changes or stumped on the spot, try following up individually during your next 1-on-1s until the team has articulated concrete changes to improve the meeting.
5. Make the suggested changes, and periodically check in. At the end of the next couple of meetings, spend a few minutes discussing whether the changes are working. If not, tweak. If so, keep going and consider doing a periodic assessment (perhaps once per quarter) to see if you can make your meetings even better.