If your agents sigh before your team meetings, there’s a problem, because good meetings are something they look forward to. Team meetings are an important part of any business… Sorry… let me start over… Some team meetings are an important part of some businesses – but only if they’re done right. Okay, I know it […]
Some team meetings are an important part of some businesses – but only if they’re done right.
Okay, I know it seems like there’s a lot to unpack there, but that’s what this blog is all about. I have 10 tips that are going to help you elevate your team meetings so you waste less time, keep morale high, and ensure everyone leaves every meeting feeling more prepared than when they went in.
Let’s start at the top with why I said “some” team meetings are important.
Better Team Meetings, Tip 1: Decide if You Really Need a Meeting or Not
Here’s a flat piece of truth…
Not every piece of information warrants having a meeting, and those that do often don’t have information that is pertinent to everyone.
Often I’ve found that a lot of time gets wasted when leaders have established a cadence for a certain meeting (such as a weekly or quarterly meeting) and over time find themselves with less and less productive things to cover. But instead of canceling the meeting or changing the cadence, they try to fill it with unengaging information. Admit it… have you ever found yourself in a last-minute scramble to come up with meeting content?
Better Team Meetings, Tip 2: Make Sure They Don’t Get in Anyone’s Way
The reason you have a team is to make your business more efficient and increase your profits. Those two things are your priorities, which essentially means that scheduling and taking appointments is your team’s main priority. So don’t get in the way of that!
Make sure you choose a time that’s as convenient for everyone as possible. First thing in the morning is usually best – unless you find that your agents are scheduling a lot of their appointments for that time.
Better Team Meetings, Tip 3: Have Your Purpose in Mind
If going on appointments is your team’s No. 1 priority, this also means that your meeting should primarily be geared towards making that happen.
Now, I’m not saying that all your meetings have to be sales focused if you have something important to discuss, but your weekly meeting should have a sales element included.
If you’re not going to directly include trainings, you want to be exploring options before each meeting about how you’re going to increase the number of appointments they set.
Better Team Meetings, Tip 4: Set an Agenda
Phil M. Jones always says that the worst time to think about what you’re going to say is when you’re going to say it. This isn’t just true for your leads and clients, but your team as well.
Ideally, you don’t want to have meetings run more than an hour, so in order to make the most of that time, you need to have a solid agenda (but not too solid, as we’ll cover in our next point).
At least a day before your meeting happens, take 30 minutes to decide:
- Your objective for the meeting
- The exact talking points that will accomplish your objective
- How long each talking point will take