Rejuvenating Your Ho-Hum Staff Meetings

by Judy Ryan

Staff meetings provide your employees with an opportunity to experience four crucial core needs: to feel empowered, lovable, connected and contributing. Here are key activities and elements to include:

1. Express appreciation and give compliments (this is separate and different from reporting successes and celebrating progress). This need not take long. You could say, “Please go around the circle and appreciate something about the person on your right.”

2. Review your purpose and values. Introduce a variety of exercises such as: “Here’s a copy of our values. Which one is most challenging for you this week, and how can we best support you?”

3. Use an agenda provided by all. Report, review and brainstorm on common agenda items such as:
a. Challenges, e.g., how to deal with a difficult client, how to increase sales or how to keep the lunchroom clean
b. Projects, e.g., a new sales process (internal) or client marketing strategy (external)
c. Systems, e.g., accounting, marketing or professional development
d. Workplace culture, e.g., developing company values, raising morale or reducing gossip  

e. Other, e.g., vacation schedules, parking or upcoming events

4. Use a consistent meeting structure.
-Form a circle to promote equality and visibility.
-Start and end every meeting on a positive note.
-Rotate facilitation of staff meetings so everyone takes a turn even though certain aspects must be reinforced by leadership team members.

-CEO or other leaders reinforce the organization’s purpose and values. For example, share a story, a quote, a case study or an article.

5. Brainstorm meeting guidelines and stick to them. Capture on a flip chart what each person needs and wants in order to participate in meetings at 100%. Write down all ideas. Ask the group to choose three to five guidelines, such as:
- Allow everyone to talk without interruption, using a talking stick at times.
-Do not allow anyone to use put-downs or make fun of anyone’s ideas.
-Consider all (even seemingly outrageous) solutions.
-Maintain order by adopting techniques such as those described below:
1. Higher:  When someone says “higher,” it’s a request to reframe a negative comment to a positive. For example, you say, “I have an idea, but it’s probably really dumb…” Someone says, “higher,” and you reframe as, “I have an idea that may just work...”  
2. Popcorn: A phrase to break up side conversations.
3. Gain attention supportively. Raise your hand. As others notice, they raise theirs until the whole group comes to attention.

Trial your guidelines; ask everyone to live with them for a period of time and then decide to keep or revise.

6. Use a meeting binder
Use a three-ring binder with dividers and include your meeting guidelines and minutes as well as sections particular to your organization, projects or structures. Include:
-A tracking sheet for agenda items: Capture agenda items and track their progress.

-A calendar: Use calendar pages to capture events and follow-up dates.

7. Plan fun. Plan a barbecue, a meal together, an outing or a community event. You decide when, what, who’s in charge of it, etc.

8. Celebrate success and progress. Track, prepare and report progress briefly.

Judy Ryan (judy@LifeworkSystems.com), human systems specialist, is owner of LifeWork Systems. Her mission is to help people create lives and jobs they love. She can be reached at 314-239-4727.