You have a level of passion and investment in your practice that most (or all) of your team doesn't. So, when you have a team meeting(s) it's not uncommon they may not be all that excited. The last thing you want is for these meetings to be a waste of time with not implementation or change. The good news is there are indeed a few key things you can do to make sure that your team is engaged and on board. You can definitely learn how to have more productive meetings and WIN.
First, you'll want to identify the regular meetings that will benefit you and your team the most. There are few things more draining than sitting through a meeting that could have been covered in an email, memo, or quick conversation. That being said, if you don't schedule a time to hash out the important things, your office will be at risk for mistakes and frustrations will rise. Take time now to dial things in and communicate so you save time in the long run.
FYI, some of the most common types of meetings for the UC office are:
Which combination will work best for your team? If you only have 1 or 2 employees, maybe doing all of these meetings is overkill. However, if you have more than 2 people on your team, we recommend doing all of the above. You'd be surprised at how productive they can be! Set aside an allotted amount of time, but if there is less to cover for any given meeting...end it early. They don't have to be super long, but do leave some time for others to ask questions or bring up topics. Even a short meeting covering a few key points is a win!
If you'd like to know more about the purpose of each of these meetings and how to structure them, I recommend grabbing the book Upper Cervical Practice Mastery. Specifically, chapter 7 covers each of these in greater detail. Check it out here.
The second way for you to have more productive meetings and win is to make sure your meetings are on point. Consider: the key issues in your office that need addressing, team overall performance, wins to celebrate, etc. Every meeting needs to have a purpose and top priorities get tackled first.
So, be sure to prioritize the issues and cover the ones that are most pressing and crucial to success. I'd make a point to always have a list of things to work on and address. However, maybe it makes more sense to address certain issues during a later meeting (for the sake of time). For example, our team has a list of ongoing issues that we can all add to. Some weeks we push certain issue back, but we know it's on the radar. Also consider jotting down what's working well so you can celebrate your wins. We do this for our weekly meetings by asking, "Share some wins from the week".
Making sure there is a good purpose for each meeting will definitely help them be productive and create wins.
Lastly, you'll want to be sure to prep ahead of time. Nothing will kill a meeting faster than being unprepared. You're the leader! Your team looks to you to provide clarity and direction. Understand the key issues your practice is facing and what needs to be discussed. Who on your team deserves some recognition for their efforts? What vision of yours needs to be shared? Taking the time to think these things through is crucial to have more productive meetings and win. Having good prep also helps the meetings be expedient!
SIDE NOTE: if you start to get some push-back from your employees when it comes to implementing meetings...listen to them. It could be they have some insights as to what could improve. Try not to take it personally. Instead, use the feedback as an opportunity to learn and grow in your leadership. It would be worse if they didn't express themselves and just shut down on you. Sure, it could be that they have no good reason to complain, but getting it "out there" will help you know how to move forward.
FREE RESOURCE: Good news! You can grab 3 meeting templates and a tracking form by clicking here. These tools will help you have productive meetings the easy way. You can get your Meeting Resource Kit here.
You and your team are going to love meetings (if they don't already). What's not to love? When meetings are done RIGHT, they educate, equip, encourage and energize! Remember the 3 key points we discussed above:
Remember, your main goal for each meeting to get results. Communication is super important and when your meetings are done right they will be more productive and create wins you can all celebrate.
Go team upper cervical!
