The Key to Getting Things Done!

For a professional football team to succeed, a rhythm of communication is essential, to ensure all players are focused, aligned, and are working towards a common goal. Your business should be no different.As a part of a professional football match, often there is a series of pre-game meetings to set their plays.

• The coaches brief the full team
• The captain reminds them to focus and gives them a brief “gee-up” before the game begins
• At quarter, half and three-quarter times there is a review of the previous quarter and setting the plan for the next quarter
• Finally, after the game, a review of what worked, what was missing and what they can repeat again to produce the same results if they won, or different results if they lost.

Your business can benefit from the same structure.

Think back to the last five challenges you have had in your business involving your team. It is most likely that these may have been avoided with clearer communication.

I hear you say, “But meetings are boring and a waste of time!”

Meetings don’t need to be boring. Boring meetings are usually run by boring people!

In fact a successful meeting structure in your business will:

1. Provide clarity – reduce the ‘gaps’ in communication within teams – minimising reactive conversations and ‘putting out fires’
2. Ensure key priorities are being implemented
3. Help you act quickly, maximise opportunities and relieve bottlenecks fast and effectively
4. Build a solid, stable team and culture
5. Align your team to focus on a common goal/outcome and embrace the power of focused collective intelligence.
6. Over time, reduce the reliance of the business on the owner

These meetings can be powerful, prompt and to the point when you follow a structure. Below are some points to consider when creating a meeting rhythm so that all of your team are aligned, focusing on the key goals, and helping the business win.

Routine and structure set you free.

Optimal Meeting Rhythm

Annual                       Strategy – setting the game plan for the year

Quarterly                   Implementation – clarity on 90-day goals

Monthly                     Review and Big Issues

Weekly                       Focus and Priorities

Daily                           Synchronise and Align

Above illustrates the optimal meeting rhythm for a growing company. Some companies conduct annual and quarterly meetings, where they measure progress toward year-end goals or set new goals, yet many miss on the weekly and daily connection.

Quarterly meetings should focus on the alignment of your team, review and ensure all your Core Values are alive and discuss the top three priorities of the company.

Monthly meetings should focus on gathering your leadership team for 2-4 hours and dealing with one important issue that is impacting the organisation.

Weekly meetings should focus on improving what you do, and most employees should be in a few of these longer meeting huddles. Include a training segment to improve skills.

Daily meetings (office & site) should focus on where we are today, and every employee should be in one of these meeting huddles daily – keep it to teams/departments/location. Daily Huddles act as an early warning system – particularly if a team is ‘stuck’ with a particular challenge.

Key Points

• Each meeting MUST have an agenda and a purpose
• Only have the people present who need to be there
• Start on time. Finish on time.
• Have ground rules (i.e. only one person at a time to speak)
• Don’t hold a meeting if it does not help you in moving the business forward
• Commit to your meetings!

Implementing a rhythm of effective communication takes time, especially if this concept is new to your business. However, adapt the above to your business, commit to a plan and learn how to run effective meetings. It just could transform your business!