Are Team Meetings Worth It? Hot

 

Through our hard work, we found, like Goldilocks, that daily meetings were too many, biweekly meetings were too few, and weekly meetings were just right. Daily meetings were truly a waste of time. They quickly became repetitive, with each person reiterating what was said the previous day. With such frequent meetings, there was no incentive to prepare or look long term. Biweekly meetings were not frequent enough. There was no continuity, no opportunity to create momentum on new ideas or initiatives. 

 

Weekly meetings were optimal frequency, but what about content and organization? After a concerted effort over a period of months, I believe that my firm has arrived at the perfect formula (at least for us!). We have a structure to our meetings with requirements for preparation. At a minimum, each person must read a current publication or two and be ready to present anything relevant to our practice. Additionally, we need to be prepared with updates or information to share with the group. The agenda is as follows:

 

Calendar updates - client appointments, vacations, group meetings along with coordinating who needs to be present at what. 

Client updates - new or lost clients, clients about to retire or other significant planning situations

"Good and welfare" - life events, illnesses and any other notable happenings for clients and team members

Educational sharing - Individual team members share relevant educational material from their current reading.

Technology/practice management - individual ideas and brainstorming on areas that can be helpful to our practice either internally or in terms of client service

Anything else - This can include anything from coordinating plans for a client appreciation event to developing team goals. 

 

By having an agenda, with preparation and full participation, our team meetings have truly been accomplishing a lot - not only specific tasks and projects but also a more cohesive team with a genuine focus on being the best that we can be. And, that's "just right!"