A weekly check-in, daily call, or monthly status-of-the-business meeting are all ways a leader can communicate with their teams. As a leader, are you addressing their concerns or putting them to sleep? Your team needs to know you value their time and appreciate their hard work. Team meetings can be a great time to do that. Here are some important topics to discuss when you call a meeting:
· Do you have the tools you need?
This will vary from person to person, but knowing if your team feels well-equipped will provide insight on whether you need to increase training, the supply budget, or personnel.
· Can we reach our goals?
Team members will have different opinions, and it’s important as their leader to assess their motivation. If you can provide the necessary tools, can they reach the projected goals? When an employee is frustrated, productivity will decrease and even the right tools won’t always solve the defeated attitude.
· What is your biggest daily time waster?
No one wants to waste their time, especially when a deadline is looming. Your team will have great insight into their daily time wasters. You might be surprised to hear it could be a particular scheduled meeting or it might something as simple as email read receipts clogging up their inboxes. Listen for a common thread such as slow software, too many meetings, and the dreaded “meeting that could have been an email.”
· What should we all learn and know?
Depending on the team, each person should have the same basic knowledge, but it’s not uncommon for some to slip through the cracks. Maybe during a rapid hiring push, some were hired without the same training as others. Find out what your team considers the foundational training for the positions and go from there. It might not cost you any money as you could create a mentoring program within your team. This can greatly improve teamwork. Your team might express a desire to learn new technology and, as their leader, you can make that happen - increasing job confidence.
· Who is an all-star?
Send out an email before the meeting and let the team know you’re looking for those who went above and beyond lately. They can let you know who you think is the shining star and why. During the meeting, these people can be given the proper recognition. As their leader, make sure you know who they are and what they did. Positive recognition in front of peers can go a long way to improving morale and maintaining high levels of competency.
Don’t waste your team’s time with endless meetings. Make them count. Your team wants to feel valued and as their leader, you have the ability to let them know how much you appreciate their hard work. To learn more, contact WSi Healthcare Personnel today.