TFT: The Right Meetings for Team Success: How to Keep Your Team Engaged and Aligned

Effective Strategies for Team Meetings, One-on-Ones, and Mentoring Sessions

On this TFT, we’re continuing with our hiring right topic and now focusing on the right number and kind of meetings to have with your team. Now that you have the right people on the bus, you have to make sure that you are communicating with them in the correct way. You will have group meetings and one-on-one meetings. You need to make sure that the team is in alignment to work together and that everyone on the team has the individual support they need. We’ll dig deeper into each type of meeting throughout this post.

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Team Meetings

The first kind of meetings we’re going to talk about are team meetings. These are where we get everyone in alignment, going over goals, action items, wins, challenges, and general updates. These meetings will vary depending on the size of the team. For your direct reports, you should have one roughly once a week. That may seem too frequent, but you need to update them on results each week and address successes and roadblocks. According to a study by Atlassian, the average employee spends about 31 hours a month in unproductive meetings. So, keeping these meetings efficient is key.

Depending on the size of your team and the amount of information you need to cover, these could be thirty minutes to one hour. If your team is larger than five people or tackling some really challenging and complex problems, you may need to consider a longer meeting, but one hour should be the target. Make sure each team member has an opportunity to share challenges if they have any. I like the cadence of a quick update from myself and then going around the table. Some team members will talk more than others, and that’s okay—the key is everyone is engaged. If you have concerns about someone talking too much or not enough, you can address that in the one-on-one meetings. I also like to have these meetings early in the week so we can ensure the team is aligned on the goals we need to accomplish. You’ll find the right time and cadence for your team. The key is to schedule the meeting, try it, and adjust as needed. Also, don’t be afraid to ask your team about the time and day of the week. The more engagement they have, the more buy-in they will have as well.

One-on-One meetings

One-on-one meetings are key to ensuring the health and engagement of each team member. Remember, everyone on your team is a human being with a life outside of work. In these meetings, you want to balance work topics and life topics. According to Gallup, employees who have regular one-on-one meetings with their managers are three times more likely to be engaged at work.

The key for these meetings is you should only do 20%-30% of the talking. You are asking open-ended questions and truly seeking to understand. Some team members will be more open than others, and that’s okay. You need to engage with each team member and make sure you have time set aside for each one. These meetings can be either weekly or bi-weekly. I also like to start with a thirty-minute meeting and then ensure I do not have anything scheduled afterward, just in case it runs long. There is nothing worse than someone opening up about a struggle and you having to cut them off to head to your next meeting. If you have a hard stop, let them know at the beginning.

In these meetings, your goal is to ensure that from a personal perspective, there is nothing that could affect their performance. You do not need all the details of their personal challenges; you are just looking for any reason there could be a change in performance or any area you can support them more. For example, if someone is dealing with a sick or dying parent, they may need more time out of the office, or they may be distracted. Being able to help them through that challenging time is important to support the team and build team unity. The other important topic in these meetings is to address any individual challenges the team member may be dealing with. If there is an issue you need to address, not in front of the entire team, these are the right meetings.

There will be times that you have to schedule a one-off meeting to address one-off cases, but having regular meetings helps minimize the surprise of underperformance. That is the final thing to review in these meetings from time to time. Review annual goals to ensure your team is making progress. This takes away any surprise in a mid-year or end-of-year review. Have these kinds of conversations every other month. That way, you can adjust team goals as situations change. You can also adjust behaviors with plenty of time to change the outcome of the goal. For struggling team members, you will help them improve or help them find the right fit for them. For team members that are succeeding, you will find new goals and challenges for them to take on so they stay engaged and continue to learn. One-on-one meetings are a great way to ensure continued success and growth of each team member.

Mentoring meetings

The final kind of meetings I would recommend are more focused on you. Find a mentor or a set of mentors to help you continue to grow and learn. According to the American Society for Training and Development, 75% of executives say mentoring has been critical to their career development.

Find leaders that have been there and done that, or leaders of a different discipline within the company. You may never lead the accounting team, but the CFO may be able to help you learn important leadership skills that will help you succeed in this role and others. Also, look for some mentors outside of your current company and industry. Finding new ideas outside of your current industry will give you a fresh perspective on your growth and how to make your team better. It could be something like a team-building event or maybe a sales strategy that you would have never thought of because “we always did it this way.” These meetings are going to be much more infrequent. They will be once a quarter, maybe once every other month. Some of your mentors will come to you for a season and some will stay for a lifetime. No matter the length of their stay in your life, they are important meetings to have on your schedule, so make sure you make time for them.

Action Step:

Review your calendar for the next two weeks. What meetings do you have on the calendar and what meeting do you need to put on the calendar?

Recommended Reading:

How to Make Your Meetings More Effective - Harvard Business Review

The Ultimate Guide to One-on-One Meetings - Forbes

The Importance of Mentoring in Leadership Development - Entrepreneur