3 kinds of meetings that will keep your employees engaged and productive
Look around and ask yourself – how many employees look enthusiastic while doing their work? How many are just following the momentum? Most importantly, how many simply look disengaged or lost in their own world?
These can be easy to answer but hard to digest, especially if you are spending your valuable time, money and efforts in a project that is seemingly going anywhere. The calculation is simple – unless and until every member of the team actively participates in meetings and aligns their goals with that of the organisation’s, the result will always be unproductive.
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So, as a leader, how can you ensure that your team feels engaged and productive throughout their tenure in the company without being demotivated and disinterested? Here are three kinds of meetings that you should organise to boost the overall productivity and success of the organisation:
A meeting in which employees contribute
The agenda of such a meeting is to organise a session in which every team member gets a chance to make a difference. According to Dan Prosser, entrepreneur and author of Thirteeners: Why Only 13% of Companies Successfully Execute Their Strategy, “When you assign responsibility and allow people to provide solutions that you actually put to use, they wouldn't think of leaving.”
Instead of expecting your employees to contribute, come up with measures that impel them to participate enthusiastically. For instance, instituting a reward system for the best idea of the day usually works in a subtle setting. You can also ask your employees to pen down their ideas before the meeting and drop them all in a box. Ask everyone to pick out random chits from the box and read the contents aloud. Then encourage others to share their feedback and suggestions on each. This could be a time-consuming process, but it is definitely one of the best ways to hold a brainstorming session. Plus, this exercise will keep everyone on their toes throughout the meeting.
A meeting to acknowledge and encourage employees
Meetings shouldn’t always be about complaints, bad news and evaluations. Sometimes, inviting teams at one place to simply say “good job” or “thank you” can motivate your employees to deliver better. Discuss their achievements in such meetings and encourage non-performers to deliver according to expectations. You can always start such meetings with success stories by highlighting trying circumstances and failures. If anything at all, these meetings may not show instant results, but with time, you’d see a great improvement in the conduct of your employees. They’ll try their best to deliver results and look forward to be appreciated in the next gathering.
A meeting that facilitates internal communication
People strive for transparency. If you don't communicate your business’ success and new achievements with your employees, they stop feeling connected to the organisation’s goals. Make sure that you hold a meeting once a month simply to facilitate internal communication through which your employees can freely suggest scope of improvement and you can give a roundup of the milestone achieved.
For instance, if your company has recently signed a deal with another company, which is willing to back up the operations and provide resources for expansion, make sure the news reaches your employees before it gets to a public platform. They deserve to know about every big or small change, as their future majorly depends on every move the company makes. Keeping them informed also gives them the feeling of being important to the organisation, building strong relationships in the long run.
“Nothing meaningful happens unless, first, there is a relationship between the two people working together,” says Dan Prosser.
We all want to make a difference with the work we do on a daily basis, so much so that employees who feel constantly motivated and are completely engaged in their jobs enjoy better health and prosperity as compared to employees who aren't. If you’re a leader or a team manager, you must always work out ways to improve your team’s performance at each level.
