How to Run a Team Meeting That Doesn't Suck

I was speaking recently with an executive coaching client about a team she leads and dysfunctional meetings that they have.

You know the one: boring, sleepy, and life draining! The one where the team leader does all the preparation, runs the meeting, and walks out with all the monkeys on his or her back.

The one where nothing seems to get accomplished.

Sound familiar? Your meetings need not be that way. Canceling or reducing the frequency of meetings is not the answer.

Want your meetings to go from sucky to snappy? Here's how:

1) Review Action Items and Commitments from the Previous Meeting

• No judgment. Did you do what you said you would do? If so, what result? If not, why not? (Builds trust, commitment, accountability, and transparency for everyone.)

2) Lightning Round (create an agenda on the fly)

• Go around the table. Everyone declares his or her top three or four priorities for the upcoming week. (These are the “big rocks”, not every little meeting or calendar item).
• Each individual can add agenda items on the whiteboard for group discussion – or even better when an admin serves as a scribe on the whiteboard.
• The group then prioritizes by first the urgent and important items, then the important ones that are not urgent, and finally the urgent items that are unimportant. Make sure you get to the meat first and not be at the mercy of the urgent.

3) Potential Ad Hoc Topics

• Every now and then an agenda item comes up in the weekly staff meeting that is so big it requires a separate ad hoc meeting. That ad hoc meeting could be a 1:1, involve several (but not all) members of the team, or may require other folks to be present.
• Do not bog down the staff meeting with a topic so large it may require a separate meeting.
• The scribe takes an action to schedule the meeting with the necessary individuals after the staff meeting. It could take place that very same day, or be scheduled for a later date.

4) Decisions and Actions

• Scribe reads out all significant action items and commitments (who does what by when) and any important decisions that were made.
• Scribe circulates decisions, actions, and commitments to all staff immediately after the meeting. This becomes the first order of business for the next meeting (see #1 above).

5) CascadingMessages

• If there is anyone in the staff meeting that has people reporting to him or her, and there were decisions taken that affect those folks, it is very important that information is passed along to those folks by their manager.
• "Manager X you're going to let your team know that.....“ It can be added to the Actions above.
• As an added bonus, rotate who runs this meeting each week. By doing so, you offer an opportunity for professional development and strengthen the leadership capacity of your team.

Meetings exist in organizations in order to communicate and get s--t done. Having a good structure like the one outlined above can help.

David Langiulli is an executive coach and trainer who helps nonprofit leaders and their teams flourish and thrive. He recently designed an online training program for nonprofit organizations to retain their fundraisers.