How to make team meetings more "lively" (nice pun, eh?) and effective...

1. teammeetings.org
How to use team meetings to
improve performance and switch people on.
living
OF the
Meeting
dead
© 2009 by Jason Moore. Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution 3.0 teammeetings.org

2. teammeetings.org
from the moon, and removed the pips from fruit.
In the last 50 years ordinary men
and women have cured countless diseases,
saved millions of lives, returned safely

3. teammeetings.org
So why cant we
conduct an
effective meeting?

4. teammeetings.org
...that has blinded us to
the horrors done unto
others in meeting rooms
around the globe.
Maybe, scientists will announce a missing gene...
the meeting gene?

5. teammeetings.org
maybe not

6. teammeetings.org
Perhaps some bright spark will find
a defective neural pathway
that pumps adrenaline when we gather
to listen to the minutes from incredibly
important meetings we were not
worthy enough to attend.

7. teammeetings.org
unlikely

8. teammeetings.org
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Do you think long monologues about
‘what needs to change around here’
will eventually have a delayed,
explosive impact?

9. teammeetings.org
what are you
thinking?

10. teammeetings.org
That the living dead expressions
of team members
signify an incredibly powerful
psychological ‘learning state’?

11. teammeetings.org
More likely,
the sound of our own voice is just
so much more interesting ...
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12. teammeetings.org
...than the collective hum of a highly motivated
and engaged team, working collaboratively to
solve problems and share ideas.

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‘Managers Make us Miserable’
Lets stop watching people professionally die a little every
time we herd them together for another episode of...

14. teammeetings.org
rocket science!
It’s not

15. teammeetings.org
based on lots
of research

16. teammeetings.org
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BTW... the least
are very common.
We observed
1000’s of them.
effective managers
We found the least effective managers have
fewer team meetings than the most effective.
Which is probably a good thing, because team
members can’t wait for those meetings to end.

17. teammeetings.org
One-way communication,
information overload,
compliance-focused get-togethers
aren’t as much fun as you think!
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18. teammeetings.org
on the other hand

19. teammeetings.org
The most effective managers,
who’s team members look forward
to team meetings and report
serious organisational benefits...

20. teammeetings.org
focus on priorities
4
1. Producing a Result
Actions that
directly link to
the organisations
objectives
2. Innovating Work
Continuously
improving
productivity through
process innovation
3. Facilitating Growth
Developing team
members collaboratively
4. Monitoring continuity
Celebrating,
acknowledging
contributions and
keeping everyone
accountable.

21. teammeetings.org
focus on Producing a Result
1. Producing a Result. Focus on Actions that directly link to the organisations objectives
A team meeting that starts with team and
organisational goals shows this is a business
meeting, no matter how much fun you make it.
Managers that have high performing teams tend
to spend the first 25% of the meeting on goals.

22. teammeetings.org
Reflect on achievements,
discuss what the team wants to accomplish tomorrow
and plan how to get there.
Clarify the team + organisations goals.
It is important to help team members
see the link between what they do and
the core goals of the company.
Relate short-term team goals to the
organisations vision so people can see
how they make a difference.
Record team commitments and evaluate
the success of actions under-taken
after the last meeting before moving
on.
Ask team members to share their goals.
Give each team member a minute or
two to briefly share their performance
goals, how they are travelling and
what they will do to meet them.
Ask all team members to make
suggestions based on their experience,
particularly if there is a shortfall in
individual or team goals.
1. Producing a Result. Focus on Actions that directly link to the organisations objectives

23. teammeetings.org
focus on Innovating Work
Move from ‘what’ needs to be achieved to ‘how’
to improve the way you accomplish goals.
High performing managers spend about 25% of
the meeting on improving productivity, by
making processes and tools easier and better.
2. Innovating work. Focus on continuously improving productivity through process innovation

24. teammeetings.org
Collaborate on improved processes and tools.
Make what team members do every day easier.
Get everyone participating.
Ask team members to focus on
improvement.
Large scale changes might be out of
your sphere of influence but improving
smaller, tactical processes and tools
can have a big impact.
Ask the team to pick a simple process
or tool and brainstorm ideas that will
improve it. Implement the change
quickly and let team members know.
Share and discuss current & future
changes.
Few things say “you’re not important”
more loudly than withholding
important information Team Members
need. Sending it via eMail is no better.
Between team meetings make a note
of all current or future changes that
impact team members... keep everyone
in the loop (verbally, not via eMail)
and ask for constructive suggestions
in or after the meeting.
2. Innovating work. Focus on continuously improving productivity through process innovation

25. teammeetings.org
focus on Facilitating Growth
High performance managers also focus on ‘how’
to accomplish goals through professional
development. They spend at least a quarter of
the meeting on learning from each other.
3. Facilitating Growth. Focus on developing team members collaboratively

26. teammeetings.org
Provide a forum for learning from each other
and the teams collective mistakes.
Ask team members to share expertise.
Give each team member a minute or
two to share what they have learned
between team meetings.
If a team member has a BIG
LEARNING give them more time to
share and discuss.
Ask team members to share learnings
and observations from coaching
sessions...
Conduct role plays & debrief as a group.
Ask: what happened, what worked well
and what could be done differently.
Learn from individual and team mistakes.
One of the best times to learn is when
things don’t go to plan. Brainstorm
ideas to ensure the team doesn’t make
the same mistakes again.
3. Facilitating Growth. Focus on developing team members collaboratively

27. teammeetings.org
focus on Monitoring continuity
Spend the remaining time celebrating team
members accomplishing. Encourage team
members to take responsibility for this section
of the meeting. They can show their appreciation
of each other just as easily as the manager.
4. Monitoring Continuity. Focus on Celebrating, acknowledging contributions and keeping everyone accountable.

28. teammeetings.org
Celebrate wins,
reward outstanding contributions
and keep everyone on the same page.
Celebrate accomplishments and small wins.
Let team members know their effort is
appreciated. Even a small memento or a
thank you can have a big impact.
Keep rewards small, tailored & relevant.
Avoid comparing team members, it annoys
people more than it helps them. Involve
everyone in the celebration and ask team
members to commend others when
appropriate.
Confirm values and high standards.
If you have a list of team values or
commitments (and you should) discuss
them as you bring the meeting to a
close.
Ask team members to share how they
have lived the values between team
meetings.
At the end of the meeting team
members should leave motivated and
clear about the teams high standards.
4. Monitoring Continuity. Focus on Celebrating, acknowledging contributions and keeping everyone accountable.

29. teammeetings.org
Always start a team meeting on-time (even if
others are late) and allocate at least an hour.
If you have a team of ten, that’s 10 person hours you
are responsible for... spend at least an hour
preparing for the meeting.

30. teammeetings.org
Let team members know what you expect from them
(for example: arrive on time, participate, ask
questions, one conversation, et al).
Be flexible with timings but always finish on time.

31. teammeetings.org
Open the meeting, then let team members do the
talking... it’s their meeting.
Your role is to keep things on track, ask thought
provoking questions, facilitate activities and mediate
personality clashes.

32. teammeetings.org© 2009 by Jason Moore. Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution 3.0

33. teammeetings.org
For Details on how Jason Moore can uniquely tailor an engagement to your specific needs,
contact him at jason@beingculture.com
Jason delivers practical, cutting-edge insight in a presentation
style that has been described as ‘expertise with humour’.
Actionable ideas are at the heart of every Jason Moore engagement. Over 20 years of
research, consulting, leading and keen observation of the best and worst of today’s
leaders has gone into creating one of the strongest, most practical approaches to
developing leadership.
Jason and his company are dedicated to making work better and developing leaders
who will have the greatest possible impact.
By observing thousands of teams and noticing where they spend their time and
effort, Jason found a simple but enduring truth: High performing and low performing
managers focus their time and effort on completely different things. Top performers
consistently focus on 4 simple leadership priorities: Producing a Result, Innovating
Work, Facilitating Growth and Monitoring Continuity.
With humour and candour, Jason will share with you simple, practical and common-
sense secrets that only the top 10% of managers use.
Contact Jason at jason@beingculture.com...
Jason Moore will help you make work betterA world in which people can produce a meaningful result, innovate, grow, live up to a high standard and enjoy what they do everyday.
Jason is a member of the
Australia Institute of Professional Facilitators
Monitoring Continuity
Facilitating Growth
Innovating Work
Producing a Result