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Have you ever wondered if your team meetings are actually the best use of their time? Or yours? If you’ve questioned the effectiveness of your daily or weekly WIPs (Work in Progress), you're not the only one. Here, we’ll explore how we're breaking free (soarin) from routine meetings (flyin) and there's not a productivity-boosting and morale-stoking star in heaven that we can't reach.
Regular group meetings, like daily stand-ups or weekly staff meetings, just feel like a chore rather than a good use of time. Pulling your team together like clockwork can waste away precious 'focused' hours and drain energy from even the most motivated team members.
Contrary to popular belief, regular, mandatory meetings don't build strong team cultures. Shocking isn't it? (if it is... keep reading). While the idea of frequent touchpoints might seem beneficial, they can sometimes have the opposite effect. Your daily or weekly meeting isn't necessarily fostering team spirit. In many cases, it’s just another box to tick off.
Routine meetings consume a jaw-dropping amount of time and energy that could be better spent on actual work (or actual team-building exercises). Imagine all the time wasted over a month due to these routine gatherings. It's wasting hours of everyone's time that could otherwise be used for more urgent tasks or innovative thinking.
It's important to recognise that not everyone on your team looks forward to these meetings. In fact, at least half of your team hates them. This discontent can lead to reduced engagement and lowered overall morale, further impacting productivity and innovation.
A large part of routine meetings actually curb productivity rather than enhance it. The interruption caused by these scheduled meet-ups can break the flow of work, making it hard for team members to get back into the groove. They’d all get more done without these interruptions, and be able to stay in a state of flow for longer.
So, is it hopeless? Or can you ensure effective communication without falling into the trap of routine meetings? The key lies in implementing systems for routine status updates. Great teams manage routine status updates with systems, reserving meetings for creative and/or innovative sessions. Let's face it, this generation always has a phone in their hand anyway. This approach ensures that meetings are held only when absolutely necessary, such as when problems need solving or results need to be shared or innovation is required.
To ensure your meetings are genuinely effective, they should be reserved for situations where they are actually needed. Times when your team just can't seem to get on the same page or a creative solution is needed (10 heads are better than 1) or after months and months, you finally land that special client 'pops champagne'.
Handle meetings as per necessity, not on a fixed schedule. Because those situations don't happen on the clock, the meeting to handle them shouldn’t either. Flexibility ensures that meetings are held only when required, making them more impactful and less of a burden.
Less routine meetings gives your team more of time to plan and prepare for the real ones. You'll find they're better equipt to solve problems, share successes, and foster creativity, especially if you give them more warning time. Try to only get people together to solve problems, share successes, or create the future. These purposeful meetings will be far more engaging and productive than any routine meeting could ever be.
We all know that when something becomes commoditised, it becomes less valuable So, avoid holding meetings just because it's Monday at 9 AM. Meetings should be driven by purpose and need, not by the clock. This shift in approach will lead to more valuable interactions and better use of everyone’s time.
Breaking away from the routine of regular meetings can actually revolutionise your team communication, leading to increased productivity and happier team members. Start by implementing systems for routine updates and reserving meetings for when they are truly necessary. This small change makes a big difference in your team's efficiency and morale.
Ready to take your team communication to the next level? Start by reevaluating your meeting schedules and implementing these strategies today. Have questions or want additional tips? Reach out to us, and let’s chat!
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