What is an All-Hands Meeting?

If you work for a large company, chances are you will participate in an all-hands meeting. When done right, these meetings can help improve company clarity and togetherness. Here, we look at why all-hands meetings matter and how to hold a successful one.

By Lora Korpar

Have you been part of a group huddle in sports? Gathering to talk to each other and strategize can help a team feel more comfortable and cohesive.

Large companies can emulate this feeling through all-hands meetings, sometimes called town hall meetings. SpriggHR defines these as “regular, company-wide meetings where all employees gather with leadership to discuss company matters.”?

All-hands meetings can take many forms, but done well, they instill a team spirit in employees and clarify goals.

“There is something that can be inherently community-building about having a town hall meeting, about bringing the entire company together virtually or in person and being in community and saying, ‘This is all of us,’” said executive leadership coach Lauren Lefkowitz.

I spoke with Lefkowitz and Dacey Davis, a leadership coach and learning and development consultant, to discuss how all-hands meetings work, why they matter and strategies to improve them.

Components of an All-Hands Meeting

According to Forbes, successful all-hands meetings tend to split into three parts – reflection, current and future project discussion and Q&A.

First, you reflect on your team’s accomplishments and congratulate them for working hard. But also don’t forget to provide constructive criticism on what could improve the next project.

It is up to the individual leader to decide whether to recognize individual achievements at the meeting. Davis says leaders should seize opportunities to uplift their workers in a public setting.

“We are in the time of The Great Resignation where people don't feel heard, valued, appreciated,” Davis said. “We have to show appreciation and to honor somebody for their contribution. We need to take the opportunity, and what better opportunity than an all-hands meeting? This could [celebrate] individual wins, department wins or company wins.”

However, Lefkowitz suggests saving individual recognition for a different setting because not everyone is comfortable being recognized in front of the entire company. Recognizing individuals also may pit departments against each other.

“This can become a competition of recognition if you aren't careful,” Lefkowitz added. “So if there is going to be specific recognition during a town hall meeting, I recommend making it something that is company-wide and not department-by-department.”

Forbes says most of the meeting should focus on the next segment – discussing where the company is and what upcoming projects and initiatives will entail. This helps management reinforce what matters most and gives employees more clarity on their roles.

“Sometimes the departments give updates about their rocks, pebbles and boulders, but I think you really need to be intentional about addressing what's most important at the time of the meeting,” Davis said.

Lefkowitz says the meetings should discuss company updates and financial updates “on a layperson level.” She added that company updates should come from the leader.

“Hearing from the leader is really important because that's probably a person you don't see a lot,” Lefkowitz said. “It's probably a person you don't run into in the halls and depending on the size of the company, you may not know how the whole company functions. So to have these meetings where you can hear how things are going, what's being built, can be really impactful.”

Finally, all-hands meetings should close with a Q&A session. Allow everyone to ask a question or voice a concern if they want. Also, Forbes says endless questions could indicate ineffective communication, encouraging management to change how they dispel information.

“If you are a brave leader, taking questions from the audience during the meeting to me is the most transparent, most warm, open way to hold a town hall,” Lefkowitz said.

Why All-Hands Meetings Matter

All-hands meetings are not only informative but can also improve company morale. SpriggHR says giving employees a voice and recognizing their achievements makes them feel included and fosters a “healthy company culture.”?

“I think one of the biggest benefits, especially post-COVID when people are disconnected and isolated, is to bring people together so you can connect more on a personal level,” Davis said. “And just to gather people together in general, so you can get to know people from other departments.”

Also, all-hands meetings are some companies’ only way to see co-workers face-to-face amid the rise of remote work. It can be comforting to remember your co-workers and managers are real people, not just names on a screen.

Lefkowitz says the success of an all-hands meeting depends on how leaders present the information. And this can reflect on the company culture.

“I have seen all-hands meetings be an opportunity for the leadership to tell everybody what they're doing wrong – ‘work harder,’ and ‘they're lucky to have jobs’ – and that doesn't ever feel good,” Lefkowitz said. “I have also seen company-wide meetings be a great celebration, full of information and really building community.”

“I believe everything you do day-to-day should reflect the mission, vision and values of the company,” Davis added. “So how the agenda is prepared, who is included in the agenda, how the meeting is structured, who gets to talk – that all reinforces that foundation the company stands on.”

How to Improve All-Hands Meetings

SpriggHR says best practices companies can implement in their all-hands meetings include keeping the meeting brief and on time, focusing on the most relevant information and preparing your team beforehand.

“Having an agenda is really important so people know what they're walking into,” Lefkowitz said. “There's nothing more unsettling than hearing, ‘We're having a town hall meeting, see everybody at three,’ and not having any idea why the meeting is happening.”

Lefkowitz added that a regular meeting date helps put employees at ease because a “pop-up meeting” usually has a negative connotation. Also, leaders should have a clear set of objectives they can discuss in an hour or less.

“I am never a fan of having a meeting for meeting’s sake or so we can check the box and say we did it,” Lefkowitz said. “I also think that if you are preparing well, there is an opportunity for great information in every meeting and for great sharing.”

According to Davis, how you prepare for a meeting will determine its effectiveness. This includes picking a time that will work for most employees and sending out invites well in advance. She also recommends leaders ask for input on the agenda.

“As a leader. I may think I know what I want to talk about, but I only have one perspective and my view may be limited,” Davis said. “So it's really important to get input from the other departments and people who are going to be involved in the meeting to make sure it's also productive and informative for them.”

Davis also recommends using interactive methods to ask people how they feel, and to recognize individual or group achievements. For example, in virtual meetings, attendees can use reactions to describe how they are doing or type names of people they want to recognize in the chat box.

For in-person meetings, Davis likes to ask people to give a thumbs-up, thumbs-down or thumbs-to-the-side to say how they feel. Also, you can ask employees to send names of co-workers they want to recognize ahead of time and make a brief mention during the meeting.

“I think sometimes meetings are a little bit too dry and robotic and it can suck the energy out of the room,” Davis said. “So really encouraging people to interact in some kind of way is important.”

Q&A sessions are key to make employees feel included. Encourage employees to write their questions in advance. But also make time to open the floor to questions in case anyone has spur-of-the-moment concerns.?

“Nothing is more frustrating than going into a meeting and you leave with more questions than you had [before],” Davis said. “So for the prep for the meeting, get the questions from the people who are invited, but also anticipate other questions that might be asked. That way if I'm the leader or the facilitator, I'm prepared to answer additional questions and prepared to give more context or data points.”

Leaders should also be open to feedback and constructive criticism from employees.

“You have to be open to feedback because sometimes the questions or the responses you get might not be ideal,” Davis said. “But it's the times when people challenge us or ask questions that could be a little bit difficult to navigate when we come up with the best or most innovative solutions.”

Davis and Lefkowitz said all-hands meetings are opportunities for leaders to create a positive work environment and culture.

“If you are running a bad meeting, no matter how often you run it, you have impacted the culture negatively,” Lefkowitz said. “And the opportunity of any all-hands meeting is to build hype and enthusiasm, [bringing] confidence in the company stability and confidence in the company's leadership.”?

Top takeaways

What to know about all-hands meetings

• All-hands meetings are an opportunity for employees to receive clarity on company goals and to ask questions.
• Well-run all-hands meetings should take time for reflection, current projects, future projects and a Q&A session.
• Keep all-hands meetings regularly scheduled, brief and with a clear agenda.
• How you prepare for an all-hands meeting will determine how effective it is.
• A good all-hands meeting will reflect positively on the company culture.