Three Ways to Supercharge Weekly Meetings

Weekly meetings can be a useful tool for a company, ensuring that each team member is up to date and on the same page. However, regular meetings can become dull and repetitive over time, leading employees to dread each one and find excuses not to attend. By finding ways to supercharge your weekly sessions, you can transform them into inspiring and entertaining experiences.

Change the Location

Chances are, your employees attend numerous meetings every day, many in the same conference rooms or offices. When your weekly meetings start to feel tired or boring, changing the location is one of the easiest ways to shake up the routine. Invite team members to a local coffee shop and meet over breakfast. Surprise employees by treating the entire group to lunch at a nearby restaurant. If you're feeling stifled indoors, schedule a walking meeting with a small group; stroll around the neighborhood, talking as you go. A different location can wake employees up and help them shake off the office haze that develops over the week. By choosing fun meeting venues, you can make weekly meetings something to look forward to.

Adjust Designated Speakers

In many companies, the same people tend to speak up in weekly meetings. Managers and team leaders often take responsibility for communicating pertinent information, leaving other employees to listen — or tune out entirely. Surprise employees into paying attention by requiring a different person from each team to speak each week. Require that each person stick to a time limit to discourage rambling and wasting time. Rotating presenters brings new energy and ideas to the room and forces every employee to come prepared. This strategy can also help younger employees feel like a vital part of the team and encourage them to take ownership of projects. Assigning speakers for each meeting can increases visibility for everyone in the company, which can lead to better relationships and working partnerships.

Use a Stand-up Format

If your weekly meetings are standard sit-down affairs, consider switching to a stand-up format. Stand-up meetings are exactly what they sound like: everyone stands up for the duration of the session, which is generally kept to 15-20 minutes. During the meeting, each person states what progress they have made since the last meeting, what they are doing in the coming week, and what help they need from other team members in order to complete those tasks. The stand-up format necessitates brevity, which can lead to better meetings and less wasted time. If you find that your regular meetings are dragging, switching formats can be an exciting and energizing shift for employees.

Better meetings benefit everyone in the company; they save time and leave employees feeling motivated and inspired. By taking steps to improve your weekly meetings, you can make efficient use of time and get attendees back to work quickly.

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