Improve Employee Motivation with More Effective Team Meetings

Posted by shonagarner on Thursday, December 9, 2010 · Leave a Comment

As a manager, are you more comfortable one on one with your employees than you are with team meetings?

Dozens of managers I work with in the workshops I run, talk of wanting to hold meetings which help to build a greater sense of team spirit and engagement, but they feel less sure about how to go about this, and what kind of activities work best to build employee motivation.

Often, team meetings become a one way process of information giving – you stand at the front; there’s a fair bit of power point going on; and not a great deal of interaction or team building!

Not only does this breed a sense of passivity in your staff –it discourages genuine sharing of views, creativity and enthusiasm.

I get managers saying things like:

“I ask my staff what they think, but it’s like pulling teeth! They just sit there!”

Or, “If I encourage staff to participate, it’s the same staff all the time – and sometimes the negative ones who have most to say – so it just descends into a moan, and I don’t want that. So I avoid asking.”

Is it worth mastering the ability to run meetings which help team building?

Absolutely!

All the research shows that when teams are working well together, performance and productivity rise, employee motivation and loyalty increase, and you, the manager, feel less stressed and more confident that you can let your team get on with things, without you having to breathe down their necks. And that, of course, frees you up to concentrate on other priorities.

But holding positive, interactive, team meetings, which leave people feeling energized and enthusiastic, is a skill – like any other!

Here are 3 tips to help you begin to create more effective, engaging meetings:

1. Before you even write out the agenda, ask yourself: “What do I want my team to think, feel and do differently, as a result of attending this meeting?”

This is my all time favourite first tip!

Write down the answers to that question on a piece of paper. These become your key goals, or objectives for that meeting.

By asking yourself what you want them to think and feel, as well as what you want them to do, you’ll really help steer how you format the meeting, as well as planning the content.
And how you format the meeting is crucial to team building and employee motivation!

2. Once you have your goals in mind, now ask yourself: How could I get some, or all of my team more involved?
Plant this question in your mind well before the day – so you have time to reflect. Often our minds come up with ideas to problems whilst we’re doing other things – even taking a shower or driving the car!

3. Consider how you could use the following tactics:

Changing the venue for the meeting – (don’t underestimate the power of this).
Providing good food! (Bacon butties, if it’s first thing; nibbles and juices, good sandwiches, or even fancy buns!)
Run the meeting with no (or as little as possible) power point slides.
If you’ve a lot of rather boring, but necessary information to give to people, how could you split this into “chunks”, giving small groups or pairs the task of reading it, then presenting it back in a fun way to the rest of the team?
Building at least one activity into the meeting which divides people into small groups or pairs to discuss an issue, and come back to a plenary session. (And think carefully about how you split people up! If you do have a “moaner” put them with your more positive employees – and frame up front that whilst you want to hear about possible problems, you also want solutions and positive ideas!)
Ask someone on your team to present.
Set up a team quiz. (and some prizes for the winners!)
A structured team building activity – specifically designed to just allow people to have fun – and get to know one another better.

Taking the time up front to plan your meetings more carefully will not only mean your team enjoys them more, they are more likely to retain the information, act on it, and walk out feeling positive, engaged and enthusiastic!

Which, after all, is what I guess you might have answered to tip 1?!

Good luck!

Are you struggling with employee motivation and morale right now? For 40 extremely practical tips, techniques and tools to help you motivate staff in the most difficult of circumstances, as well as an easy quick survey tool and activity you can run with your team to get you started, see “The busy manager’s guide to staff motivation: 40 simple tips and techniques to improve employee motivation in tough situations.”

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For more information to help you with the people side of management,
including how to improve employee motivation and get the best out of your team, take a look at these great resources: