Every person in your team - regardless of their age, personality type or position - needs regular human interaction. To prevent miscommunication, it is crucial to have regular meetings with your team. In this quick tips episode, Laura Kukemelk shares the 3 types of meetings you should have with your team on a regular basis.
We are not robots, we all interpret the world in our own unique way, we understand the same things in a different way, our work styles and priorities are different and that is absolutely okay.
However, these differences can often lead to misunderstandings. For example, asking somebody to do something for you but they don’t do it the “right way”. Or they completely misunderstand the essence of what you needed to do and go the opposite direction.
Been there? Done that? Well, so have I. Another thing I have learned is that only communicating over email or chat can lead to unnecessary frustration. You know what you meant when you sent out the email, but how the other person chooses to receive it, the mood they are in or the tone of voice they have in their mind when they read this email can completely alter the meaning of what you wanted to say. For example, they may think that you were rude while you thought you were just clear & direct. Or vice versa, they may think that you are overcontrolling when all you wanted to do was make sure they did the task in the exact same way as you have always done it.
To battle this loop of miscommunication is to have regular meetings with your team members, so that you can discuss whether you have understood things in the same way. And these meetings can of course happen virtually or over the phone, but the main idea is to get the person talking and not just exchanging emails.
So, here are the 3 types of meetings you should have with your team regularly:
- Daily follow-up meetings. These are simple 10-15 minute meetings at the beginning of each work day. The goal is to give each member a chance to share what were the key things they got done the previous day, what are the main tasks they will be working on today and whether they have any questions or obstacles in their way. This meeting gives everybody a quick overview of where we are at as a team and keeps everybody on track.
- Weekly or Monthly Team meetings. These are 1-1,5 hour long meetings with all your team members with the goal of going through all the projects, adding status updates, and planning activities for the next week or month. Ideally, this is the place where all the team members plan their calendars and if there’s a task that needs other team member’s input before completion, you can plan it accordingly. When daily follow-ups are about short-term plans, then these look at a bigger picture.
- 1:1 meetings with each of your team members every month. This is not to discuss details of different tasks, but to discuss the overall challenges and victories of the past month and about setting goals for the next month. This meeting is also the place to discuss in which direction your employee wants to grow, how you can support them and keep them accountable on this professional development journey. And of course, this is the place where the employee can share feedback about the processes in place, teamwork, and so on. Give your employees a place and time that they know they can come and talk to you confidentially.
These are the 3 most important meetings you should have: daily follow-ups, weekly planning meetings and 1:1 monthly meetings. It can sound like a big investment of time from your end but it is actually an insurance that you know that your team members are happy and well taken care of. After all, businesses don’t exist without people and by empowering your team, you empower your business.