Staff meetings are essential. No matter how tedious it may sound, meetings enforce team spirit and also allow to check for the nitty-gritty of the ‘to-do lists’. However, it’s not always given that staff will be engaged throughout the meetings, in fact, nine out of ten people admit to daydreaming in team meetings. This makes it all the more important to create a meeting that helps faculty members to stay grounded while they are inside the meeting room. Team building meetings always call for purpose and intention. Team leaders can take their first step by being empathetic towards the staff in recognizing the need of the group. When we call for meetings it does not always need to be serious business. Meetings can be organized and yet set with a fun and inspiring tone.
In an educational institute, school leaders need to design meetings that maximize collaboration community, and learning.When you move away from go, go, go mode to developing thoughtful meetings that feel organic for you and your team, you make way for more creativity. In schools, where every other member is interconnected with each other with their role, this kind of positive attitude, can make a huge difference. Plus, in times of challenges and stressful situations, you and the school staff can collaborate in meeting with the right mindset where people are more solution-oriented rather than staying in panic mode.
So, how do you do that! – let’s discuss few pointers to give you a heads up.
Frame Your Meeting
Framing our meeting goes beyond setting agendas. When you are planning how you expect the minutes of your meeting to flow, you need to consider your role as a team leader to check with the effectivity and also achieve your purpose while staff is contributing to the meeting. One way to do that is to write down your desired outcomes so that participants know what is expected from them. This increases productivity as a staff is moving with a purpose. Setting goals can simplify the role of each member and thus keep clarity of the meeting. As a result, staff can feel their time is well spent and that they have contributed on their part.
Get Creative
Taking staff meetings on a creative tangent is all about knowing how to keep up with the team spirit. When you know the purpose of the meeting, create team meeting agenda and find the questions that need to be addressed, execute the meeting. It is imperative to bear in mind that meetings are held for making important decisions and deep discussions. Many mistakes meeting for sharing routine information with a team, it can take away both time and energy and thus reduces the effectivity of the meeting. What can be done in emails should not be brought to the meeting table, rather make it useful where interaction and collaboration are required. Remember, meetings are opportunities to boost positive team culture and not just for getting things done by your subordinate.
Encourage Contribution
A physical meeting is held majorly because everyone who is present needs to contribute to the process. Hence appreciate every contribution your team members make. It is not good news if half of your team members are sitting quietly behind the desk and not voicing their opinions. This signifies missing out on crucial information. People will eventually perform better when they are being seen and heard. When the nature of the work involves positive motivation from team leader, high performance is easily expected. Plus, everyone’s contribution will give you insights from different angles; hence the possibility of solutions to challenges becomes diverse.
Takeaway
Staff meetings when focused, goal-oriented, and is inclusive in nature can be considered effective team meetings. While it takes organization and motive behind conducting meetings nevertheless meetings are not just for delivering results. The quality of meetings has a ripple effect on the performance of each faculty member. A positive attitude in Team building meetings can provide that inspiring experience to each participant. It is a good idea to keep the energy of the meeting room enjoyable. Of course, you should be focused on achieving the outcomes, but thoughtful meetings and one or two sarcasm in between will not take away anything from your agenda; in fact, laughter can make experiences them meeting more positive. It encourages more participation from the team and also improves creative problem-solving skills.
Plan a quality meeting with Educational Administration and Management program that helps employees leave feeling more connected, valued, and fulfilled even after the meeting. Not only is it more pleasant for every participant, but their performance and information retention will also be easier.
Written By : Sudeshna Guha Thakurta
