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Things can get a little hectic in business over the festive season, especially for those in retail and hospitality.

Normal business processes are stretched, and even abandoned until the trading pace settles down.

When your team is operating at full capacity, tensions can rise and divisions may start to emerge.

Now’s the time to regroup. Get your finger on the pulse and provide the calming influence.

One of the best ways to do this is by holding a regular staff meeting.

Here’s 13 tips for staff meetings to support your team to achieve.

keeping your staff aligned

In the previous topic we talked about the importance of having your staff aligned to your business Vision & Goals.

What’s an easy way to keep your staff on track in this regard? You guessed it, a regular staff meeting.

regular staff meetings

Staff meetings are a great way to ensure your business stays on track, and potentially correct disasters before they happen.

They provide a forum for unbiased discussion which helps to keep moral high, and ensure staff are aligned to achieving the Business Vision & Goals…if they are run well & regularly.

Yes, you may need to be a little more organized in order to make them happen regularly – this will depend on the industry you operate in and the logistics of the staffing roster.

13 tips for running a meeting

As long as you follow a few simple rules, you’ll notice the benefits almost immediately.

You may not think you can afford the ‘downtime’ of a staff meeting, but you can’t afford NOT to have one.

Follow these simple rules, and you’ll be glad you did:

1. Set a time and place. Be consistent and you will reap the long-term benefits. Meetings early in the week while team members are still fresh from the weekend are best. Monday or Tuesday are ideal, in the mornings even better. And don’t cancel meetings. It sends the message that they aren’t important.
2. Be Regular. At least every month, and ideally every week, depending on your business circumstances. A lot can happen in a week in business, stay on top of things by having a regular meeting.
3. Be punctual. Starting late is disrespectful to those who made it a priority to be on time. A definite end time moves the meeting along allowing staff to plan the rest of their day with confidence.
4. Make it worthwhile. This will depend on your business. If you pay your staff fixed salaries and you hold your meetings during normal work times, there’s no reason for them not to attend. If you hold them outside normal work times, expect some reluctance & resentment if you don’t pay them for their attendance. Businesses with large numbers of part-time and casual employees with varying rosters may find it a little more difficult to schedule and get numbers for meetings. If so, make sure you’re holding your meeting at a good time for starters. Holding a meeting after normal trading hours at 7:30pm on a Thursday or Friday night is not ideal for example. Especially if you’re expecting them to come for no pay. You need to make it worth their while. Pay staff for their time if the staff meeting is scheduled outside the normal working day, and/or provide some other benefit or incentive to at least say ‘thank you’. Put on free drinks and finger food for instance.
5. Have an agenda and stick to it. Most meetings fail when adequate thought has not been put into what the group should discuss. At the same time, it doesn’t need to be defined to the very last minute; unforeseen events can sometime take precedence. Place priority items at the top of the agenda.
6. Have a leader. Consistent leadership enhances the effectiveness of a business; the same is true for meetings. If your delegated leader is going to be away or is sick, ensure you have a suitable replacement.
7. Start (and end) positively. People don’t like to be told what they’re doing wrong, and they won’t want to come to a 30min lecture of the same. Always start meetings on a positive note and reward achievement. Thank all attendees for coming when they walk in and make sure you end on a positive note too.
8. Open & honest. Make sure the mood is welcoming. Your team needs to feel like they can say anything without fear of reproach. This leads to valuable insight from the people who make your business work…listen closely to what they have to say. Fix problems quickly where you can and actively ask for their continued feedback on ALL areas of your business.
9. Focus on the highest priority. The larger the group, the more likely it is that only a few significant issues may have the time to be heard in any one meeting. So focus on those that are most important.
10. Confidentiality is key. When discussing sensitive and/or volatile issues, the conversation must not leave the room. If need be, deal with highly sensitive/volatile matters discreetly outside the meeting only with relevant parties.
11. Team Meetings aren’t necessarily Team Building. Weekly meetings alone will not be sufficient to address all the issues that businesses face. Time must be set aside for brainstorming, planning, and for team building experiences designed to foster community, perspective, and skills.
12. Be unified. At times it’s impossible to have complete agreement, but it is important that, once a decision is reached, all staff support it and not air any differences elsewhere.
13. Put resolutions into effect immediately (where possible). If participants feel that things still aren’t ‘getting done’ after having been voted/decided on in a meeting, the meeting will lose its usefulness. Make sure you act on concerns and items raised in meetings swiftly so staff feel the meetings are worthwhile. If staff feel their input is being valued, and they can see the positive difference the meetings as a whole are making, the meetings will continue to be a success.

If you need a helping hand to get going contact us.