How to adapt and improve every week by running weekly meetings
This video and the article is part of a series of exercises taken from the ResultMaps workshop, “How to Accelerate Results with Accountability + Ownership." This exercise works best when preceded by the route exercise, which you can find here.
Meetings have a significant impact on project outcomes, costs, and team alignment. The specific type of meeting we’re focusing on here is almost workshop for your team, conducted weekly. This process aims to enhance the quality of your weekly sessions, offering a formula to transform this weekly time into a superpower. ResultMaps customers benefit from a dashboard that guides you through this meeting, but for those using other systems, we’ll delve into nuances and structuring techniques for optimal value in this article.
How to run a powerful weekly workshop meeting
This meeting should occur at the same time every week to ensure commitment, consistency, and progress. The objectives are:
make progress visible
clarify and refine aspects of your business
allow for effective communication within the team
Whether conducted virtually or in-person, the essential aspect is in embracing this discipline as a time management practice for collaborative problem-solving and business development.
Orientation
The orientation phase kicks off the meeting, lasting around 10-15 minutes. While some icebreakers might be employed initially, the emphasis is on syncing up, each team member sharing the real context. This phase is not about emotional discussions; it's a dedicated time for working on the business. Leave out color commentary and explanations, focusing on the task at hand.
Strategy review
The second part involves:
reviewing the strategy for the week
examining progress
classifying elements as red, yellow, or green based on their status (on track, needs attention, or off track).
This phase takes about five to ten minutes and is expedited when everyone is adequately prepared - be disciplined in preparing for this section before the meeting, ensuring that all relevant updates are readily available, and eliminating the need for detailed discussion during this phase.
Following the strategy review, a brief summary of the week’s progress is presented, highlighting significant achievements. This can be completed by recognizing individual or team accomplishments. It’s essential to keep this part concise to maintain a focus on execution.
Solve and prioritize
The final and powerful section is dedicated to addressing issues and challenges. Protect the time you allocate for this phase. Team members identify issues, outline their source, diagnose root causes, and decide on immediate actions or scheduling for future attention. If an issue requires more than 10 minutes for resolution, it's earmarked for a dedicated work session to avoid unnecessary time consumption in the meeting. This is crucial!
Various types of issues may surface, such as persistent roadblocks, commitments not met, or an excess of red indicators on success criteria. Each issue is approached with a problem-solving mindset, seeking to identify friction points and improve the system. Diagnosing issues and encouraging open discussions contribute to the team's adaptability and problem-solving capabilities.
Download the template
If you’re not running ResultMaps, make your own copy of the Tracking Progress spreadsheet to use for your meetings. The meeting structure, as outlined in the provided spreadsheet, enables quick updates, strategy assessment, progress celebration, and focused issue resolution. The disciplined and efficient execution of this meeting process serves as a cornerstone for team collaboration, problem-solving, and continuous improvement. Protecting this time and embracing the constraints outlined significantly correlates with the success and acceleration of the team's objectives. The overarching goal is to create a clear, adaptive, and efficient structure that maximizes the team's potential and accelerates progress.