I settled in on the sofa this weekend to watch some football games on television. As I was watching, I was struck by the number of timeouts called in critical play situations. The players would then come over to the sideline and together with the coaches discuss what to do next. It got me to thinking about how the same is true in the world of business. That is, there’s a lot going on at any given moment which needs attending to, better known as “work.” But we also need to call a few time-outs, check the score and discuss the next plan of action. And one of the best time-outs in business is regular employee meetings.
I know, I know. You're wondering, “OK, where do I find the time to have these meetings? I’m too busy working and so are my employees.” But, as with anything, you make the time for those things that are important to you and your business. And you’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn that the majority of employees consider these meetings important and are willing to come in early or stay late to attend them, so long as you give them worthwhile information and allow them to participate.
A typical meeting schedule for your company could look something like this:
- Weekly – a very informal get-together to review current projects and deadlines and to discuss next steps on pending projects and other short-term issues. Use the last weekly meeting of the month to review that month’s company performance and to talk about next month. 15-30 minutes, tops.
- Quarterly – a somewhat more formal gathering to discuss company performance, projections for upcoming quarters, customer service issues, new clients or prospects and other longer-range type issues. 30 minutes to an hour, at most
- Annually – a yearly review of the company’s accomplishments and shortcomings, wins and losses and a time to celebrate and retool for the coming year. They’re usually more highly regarded in an off-site location, away from the phones and emails. An hour, plus a meal or other event.
Also, when scheduling these meetings, it’s important to schedule them on a regular schedule – well enough in advance for everyone to plan to attend – and stick to the schedule. Nothing frustrates employees more than managers who don’t follow-through.
Now that you know when to have these meetings, let’s discuss a few of the things you can talk about.
- Financials – The taboo subject! Many companies are afraid to share financial information with employees for two reasons: 1) they think employees won’t understand it and 2) they’re afraid that it will get into the wrong hands. Just like the football team that needs to know the score to know how to execute, your employees need to know the financial score of the company to be able to do something about it. The more you treat them like team-members with a stake in the company’s success, the more they’ll understand about how to make it more profitable. You have to trust that they, too, want the best for the company. As for the info leaking to competitors, again, you have to trust your employees to do the right thing. (And, if you don’t trust your employees, you have a bigger issue than just your financials leaking out.)
- Accomplishments – Begin an employee recognition program and highlight efforts they have made during the year. Cash awards are good; but the simple act of recognizing them for a job well-done in front of their peers goes a long way to cementing your relationship with them.
- New Business Ideas – You’d be surprised how many employees have great ideas about how to generate new business for your company. They’re just waiting for someone to ask them.
- Operations and Procedures – Henry Ford once said that no one knows better how to improve a job than the person who does it all day long. During your meetings, discuss ways to make operations more efficient or how to improve product or service quality. Most of your employees may not be “managers,” but a lot of them have “management” thoughts. Ask them what they think!
These are just a few of the topics you can cover. I’m sure you can come up with other items of interest that can be discussed, as well. And at the end of each meeting, ask for feedback so the next meeting can be even better.
Regular employee meetings are the best way to keep the issues most important to you and your business on the table and up for discussion. And having everyone focused on the same business issues could mean the difference in a mediocre season and a championship one for your business.
It’s up to you, coach.
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