Many of us spend a lot of time in meetings. In fact, meetings may be the most important part of the work we do. 

It is where we have important conversations, share ideas, plan our work, make decisions, build team relationships, and decide how to get work done.

Or not?

Some of us have also experienced meetings that severely lacked productivity and effectiveness, where no decisions are made, team members walk away frustrated, and everyone wonders if the meeting was just a waste of precious time.

As a leader, it is tempting to throw every sort of issue that needs to be talked about into one long, unproductive meeting – like a bad stew with too many ingredients. Put simply, is the lazy way of leading meetings and sets the team up for frustration and low productivity. 

For people who dread meetings, one of my favorite tools to recommend is “The Six Types of Working Genius” because of its effectiveness at transforming meetings. In short, The Working Genius is a framework to improve productivity at work and get more done, especially in meetings. Here are three tips to master the art of meetings with Working Genius:

Your team’s thoughts and insights can be incredibly useful in figuring out how to improve your workplace.

However, for employee reflection to have a meaningful impact, the business must put things in place that encourage honest and thoughtful insights.

Here are a few ways to encourage your team to reflect: 

In his book, The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni outlines six questions that every team must answer to get clarity on your team.

When I was young, I attended a fair where teams competed in a tug-o-war. The whistle blew, the boots dug in, and the teams used every strategy, muscle, and rhythm to drag the opposing team across the finish line.

Imagine a tug-o-war where each person is pulling in different directions at different times and in different ways. The result of that kind of team would likely include tripping over each other, confusion, and frustration – to name a few. A strong team clearly knows its purpose, strategies, positions, and actions.

Keep in mind that I am not talking about a leader sitting down, answering mission, vision, and value questions, and then leaving them in some messy corner or hard drive. No, we are talking about wrestling through these questions as a team, so that each member can pull in sync with the team. 

Many times, as we work through these questions, a team will uncover areas of tension or confusion. Clearing up misunderstandings and articulating differences, however big or small, are part of the process. The goal is to make clear what your team is all about so that you can pull together.  Here are six questions to consider: 

What is your core reason for existing? This is the true purpose of your job. Your team needs to know why, what you are doing ultimately matters. There are many different reasons for existing as a team. The point is that your team knows your reason and talks about it often. 

This isn’t about just coming up with a pithy catchy statement. Instead as you wrestle through the why as a team, you intentionally communicate with each other. Your why becomes a way to remind and encourage each other of what really matters.

What are your team’s deeply ingrained behaviors? Teams have deeply held values, whether articulated or not. Identifying the values of the team and communicating them, clears up a lot of hidden expectations. These behaviors are not what you hope your team to be or all the behaviors that a person should have. Instead, answering these questions should support the why and identify what is best about your existing team.  

People crave clarity. Find three to four important behaviors for your team. Build Trust, Create Clarity, and Engage the Whole Team are ours at Team Verve.

Chances are your life is full of teams and the people on them. Whether in ministry, business, church, or family, our teams either accomplish more together or quickly fall into discouragement. As leaders, we need to intentionally build the habits of an encouraged team. 

Words that describe an encouraged team are energized, collaborating, committed, life-giving, motivated, and passionate. This type of team has the momentum and strength to endure when things get tough. 

Here is the reality – when we start to evaluate our teams, it is easy to identify areas that should be changed. I often hear people say things like:

 “We avoid difficult conversations with each other.”

“I want to be a more effective leader.”

“Trust is broken on our team.”

“We need to improve our communication.”

“Our team feels stuck and lacks momentum.”

“Our differences are just too big.” 

Build the Habits of an Encouraged Team

A few years ago, I joined a team that was stressed, distrusting, and inching close to burnout. I turned cynical and dove into discouragement.  Thankfully, our team and leader (can we give a shout out to all brave leaders!) recognized the need for change and worked hard to build the habits of an encouraged team.

It is difficult to pinpoint one thing that produces a healthy and encouraged team. Simple answers and quick fixes do not exist for the complex challenges and situations teams face. Yet as I interact with a variety of teams, I have noticed a few simple habits that often get overlooked.  Habits, that when intentionally cultivated, create avenues to build up and encourage our teams.

Spend Time Together

You might be thinking – well of course! But often teams get so busy checking off to-do lists that regular time together gets the brunt end of the schedule. Over and over, I have observed teams that simply cannot find time to meet. I am not talking about that once-every-quarter meeting with a logistical agenda the size of Mt. Everest. Nobody likes those. Instead, teams need brief daily or weekly huddles that include short rhythms of prayer, learning, discussion, vision casting, and, of course, a bite of the logistics.

At one point our team recognized that when things get busy, we need to meet more often, not less.  This was a ‘light bulb’ moment. Predictably, we could not find a regular time to meet other than the wee hours of Monday morning. But we dragged our sleepy morning selves out of the house, coffee-in-hand, because spending intentional time together is vital for team health.  

Cheers

Most of us have good intentions of speaking words of encouragement. Yet inevitably if it is not built into the habits and fabric of team life, we quickly begin to starve our team of affirmation.  

Cheers are verbal recognition and encouragement with the whole team present.  This may be a simple “Jane I appreciate the way you stayed calm and kept your head when dealing with multiple emergencies last week. I want to learn from you in that way.” Trust and appreciation are built between team members when the whole team participates.

Many times, the simple habit of opening meetings with a time of cheers is all the opportunity a team needs to get started. Other times the words get a little constipated and awkward. As a leader, you may need to intentionally build more awareness around strengths and weaknesses before your team is truly able to celebrate each other.  

Clarify the Why

Does each member know why they are part of your team? Do they realize the value they contribute? For example, someone can simply be the janitor who cleans up after everyone else.  Or that janitor can be the Director of Hospitality who creates an environment where customers feel at home.  Create clarity around how each person can be a hero on the team.

Go ahead and ask your team a few intentional questions at your next huddle. If you get vague rambling answers like, “I’m in a support role” or “I just do what I’m told” or “these are the list of tasks I do,” then you have work to do! While flexibility, support, and task lists are part of nearly every role, a team member who owns their greater purpose will be more motivated to do their job well.

Give Proactive Feedback

As leaders, we often wait to give feedback until there is a problem. Then because it is uncomfortable to pull people into the office, we wait to address problems until they are too bad to ignore. Too often our teams are left wondering what their leader thinks of them and the job they are doing. It is high time to make meetings in the office normal again!

There are many ways to give feedback, but my favorite is to create Key Results Areas (KRAs). This refers to a short list of expectations and goals.  Both the team member and their manager rate performance in each area. As the two sit down for a conversation, the goal is to express where the team member is excelling and areas they could improve. Feedback that is given well and consistently provides clarity, reduces conflict, and encourages trust.  

Learn Together

Does your team life feel a bit stagnant? Part of leadership is creating the space to brainstorm and problem-solve as a team. A culture that continually asks, “how can we do it better?” opens a channel for improvement and collaboration.

Learning as a team can take many forms such as workshops, podcast discussions, book studies, communication development, skills training, etc. My favorite part of a workshop is seeing a team go from bored and uninterested to brainstorming, problem-solving, and having fun together. Regardless of what you choose to learn, remember to leave plenty of time for your team to ask questions and discuss practical application.

Celebrate!

I’m a big fan of celebrations.  All too often our teams rush from one thing to the next, forgetting to take time to recognize what has been accomplished.

Celebrations may conjure up visions of elaborate events with grand menus, lists of logistics, and lots of expense and time involved. While these kinds of events certainly have their place, I am talking more about simple and regular celebrations that become traditions for your team. Maybe it’s Cokes for all when a goal is reached? Or pausing for a session of worship and thanksgiving prayer when a particularly busy season has ended? It may be grabbing a giant sticky note and listing the wins for the quarter? As a leader, make sure your whole team hears and celebrates the big picture wins!  

Jesus is the ultimate team builder. In some of His last words to His team, the disciples, he gave these famous instructions, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” (John 13:34b-35 NIV) One way we are identified as followers of Jesus is when our teams love and work together well. This truth spurs us on to do the hard work of building habits that encourage the teams in our care. Wherever you find your team, remember the words of Jesus, and go unleash the potential on your team! 

Read more:

• Have you ever been part of a healthy team?
• Use DISC as a tool to build your team