How to Avoid Uninspiring Team Meetings

Do you sit in team meetings that neither inspire or motivate? Do you ask yourself, "Why am I here?" or "What's the point?" Perhaps, you are the leader that requires team meetings and find yourself at a loss with bringing more value to them and with truly engaging your team.

Team meetings do not have to feel like a waste of time. They can energize and motivate your team members. Try these three steps to create inspiring team meetings:

Step 1:

Slow down and think about the outcome you want for the meeting. This pre-planning will ensure that the meeting is focused on the right things. Now that you have an objective, state it on the meeting invite and the meeting agenda.

Step 2:

Speaking of agendas, make sure your meeting has an agenda that states the objective at the top, what points will be covered, and who is responsible for what information. Have an 'Action' box next to each point so that the next steps can be captured. Make sure to state who is responsible and decide on a due date. Your agenda needs to clearly state who is accountable for the actions and who else needs to be consulted or informed. Agendas create focused meetings, a sense of clarity, purpose, and momentum.

Step 3:

Meetings do not have to be just read-outs of facts. Build in different ways to add value to your meeting. Meetings can be focused on a problem and your team works together on a white board creating possibilities. Ask questions like, "What else do you see?" or "What do you think we could do if there weren't any restrictions?" Other meetings can highlight particular projects and the successes.

Meetings need not be a place that drain your team's time and creativity. Focus on adding freshness and real value.