Three Ways to Improve Your Staff Meetings
Is this the scenario for your staff meetings? People file into the room in about the same order each week. They sit in the same chairs or lean against the wall in the same place. They sit quietly while you “discuss” information that you think they will appreciate.
When you are done, you respectfully ask if there are any questions and you get a silence. Then everyone hurries out to do the work they’d rather be doing.
Sound familiar? It doesn’t have to be that way!
There are three things you can do to make staff meetings better for everyone. For those of you that only have a meeting only once or twice per month, you may want to consider holding meetings more often, but these tips still apply.
1. Use the time to say thank you or send out praise.
This is a universal truth, people respond to praise better than anything else. So just in case you haven’t thought about this, going through all the work you’ve been doing is probably not about praise but about fear for your team. Fear of being off schedule, fear of having to justify how the job is going, etc.
Instead, use the staff meeting to let someone share how they solved a problem that others may face in the future. Also, take time during the week to “catch someone doing good” then bring that up. Learn about the accomplishments of your team in their personal lives and mention those.
2. Use the meetings to solve problems and develop the team.
Successful auto shops create an environment where employees feel that they are on a team that communicates openly and works together. So discuss what problems the team faces. Be sure you listen and hear what everyone shares. Make a list. Then start working on the solutions as a group.
It may take doing something extra to really get people talking. You could even try handing out a couple of gift cards or other small prizes as an incentive. Once your team sees that you’re serious about making progress, they will really start contributing to the conversation. And probably, no one will be late for a meeting anymore!
3. Shake things up
As with almost anything in life, variety is the key. Do not do the same thing week after week. Mix it up. You should always be praising someone. But beyond that, use some meetings for systems building and problem solving. Use some for simply having a good time. Use some for forecasting and letting people share the good that is going on with their jobs.
Summary
With just a little bit of creativity and planning, your meetings can be effective and helpful. What about you? Are your staff meetings effective? What are some ways that you have made them stronger? We would love to hear how your team has improved your staff meetings in the comments section below.
