Many managers often feel they must foster a team environment and communication by having status updates. A meeting for the sake of meeting can be a waste of time. Food may be provided and the manager may find that gets everyone there-then what?
I worked in an office like that-instead of sales quotas, we kept track of counseling appointments. While many meeting foster communication….there must be room for open debate as well.
Here are five questions to foster healthy discussions and debates:
- What has occurred-what developments have there been? What has changed. This a great way to start the discussions about the concerns of the team or different departments.
- Now, what is it that we want to happen? The outcomes needed needed and how do we measure so we know we’ve achieved these objectives. This enables prioritization.
- What are the risk factors. This can start lively discussions…both the “big picture” thinkers and those more detail-oriented can come together to make an informed assessment.
- What information do we need? What data is missing? Do we need to involve another or can we access the information quickly and …who is responsible for this? This is a great question to decide on assignments.
- What mistakes were made or are still making? This encourages attendees to speak out.and problem-solve. Does it solely affect our team or is it company-wide?
- BONUS What would be the ideal outcome for this meeting? This encourages your attendees to look ahead, do some future-planning…next, how do we get there?