4 Steps to Effective Team Meetings

As the studio owner you are kind of like the coach of a world championship team. You can have all the talent in the world, but it’s how you coach, mentor and bring them together that really matters.

A world-class coach doesn’t just roll out the balls at the beginning of the year and say good luck – instead there is a lot of hard work, perseverance, communication, discipline, practice and growth that happens throughout the season.

And that’s exactly what you must do as the studio owner – constantly mentor, motivate, coach, inspire, teach, train and evolve your team.

So how do you that? Through communication and regular meetings.

First and foremost, we recommend a regular team meeting (ideally weekly but at a minimum monthly).

You may be thinking, “I don’t have time to meet” or “I don’t want to waste my team’s time.”

Well – we’d like to argue that you really can’t afford not to meet if you want your team to be aligned and pushing towards the same vision. Remember the world championship team idea?

So how do you run an effective weekly team meeting that’s engaging, effective and something  your team looks forward to?

1.  Same time, same day – Consistency does matter so it’s important that you set a specific time and day for your team meetings. This way your team knows to schedule EVERYthing else around this important time together. For us, we meet every Tuesday at 11:30 am, and it’s mandatory for all full-time employees.

2. Have a clear agenda – It may take some time to figure out your flow, but having a general outline of how the meeting goes can be useful when you’re getting started. In general, we review our KPIs, our current marketing initiatives, any studio or client issues or concerns and a continuing education topic. Swipe our sample agenda here and make it your own.

3. Encourage contribution – Open and honest communication is at the core of any thriving team so it is integral that you foster a collaborative culture. Make sure each team member feels safe and comfortable contributing their thoughts and ideas. Several heads are always better than one so encourage suggestions and respectful constructive criticism.

4. Close with clear action items – Before closing out the meeting make sure each person understands their specific action items, the timeline for when they must be executed and what success looks like. So many expectations are lost in communication so taking this extra step to ensure your team has clarity is extremely important.

 Whether you are just setting up your studio or you’ve been at it for some time, it’s important that you implement a regular team meeting.

Take some time today to brainstorm when and how you can make it happen for your team, and then start taking steps to implement it.

And, be patient with yourself as you find your flow. Keep at it if you’re first meeting isn’t a home run. 

Remember championships are won through persistence, perseverance and hard work.