Team Hack #18: The Five Most Common Team Meeting Mistakes

We don’t know why we are invited to the meeting: Team members need a good idea what type of meeting this one is going to be, in order to properly prepare for the meeting. They also need to know how THEY relate to the other participants. If the nature of the meeting is to brief a team on new information, then notepad, recorder or other information gathering devices are appropriate. If the meeting includes active planning – calendars, ”daytimers”, or pdas will be essential to work out time lines and schedules. If this is a strategy session or problem solving session, more time will need to be allotted and cell phones will be entirely unhelpful. It is possible that the meeting has a number of these components, but it is helpful if you signal a division in the meeting to assert expectations (i.e. Am I supposed to respond and question this item or simply listen and absorb it?). More on this below…

We don’t know what is expected in the meeting: Feedback is sometimes appreciated, and at other times inappropriate. If the team leader makes it clear what is expected from the team, they will be better able to fit in to the plan. For many years I felt frustrated because I wanted to “get through the material without interruption” before we began with the question and answer portion of the meeting. Finally, I began sharing what my expectation was as I began each section of a meeting. People fit in when they have a way of understanding what you are looking for from them.

We don’t know who owns the problem: One of the most difficult mistakes for some team leaders is to be able to tactfully but clearly state the problem the meeting is set to address and what role each team member has in the process. In other words, we need to let members know if they “own the problem” (i.e. are being called on to solve it) or if we are simply seeking counsel from the team before the team leader makes a decision. People feel robbed if they “decide together” something in a meeting that is “overturned” because the team leader owns the problem and has not decided to give it to his or her team to solve. If we state that we want counsel but are going to decide on our own, people will still offer advice, but not expect the leader to be bound to it.

We don’t know what the follow up will be: To make a team meeting successful it should end with the exercise of stating clearly who will be following up on each action that is to be take, and who will check on the follow up (accountability) and report to the team leader. Without follow up, your team will find itself resolving problems that fail to be acted on after the last meeting due to an oversight on a team member’s part. How many times have you sat in a meeting and said, “I thought Joe was handling that!” Only to find out it slipped Joe’s mind totally after the meeting, or Joe didn’t realize HE was supposed to do it.

We don’t know if we are succeeding: Meetings are much more fun if the leader can show some victory for the hours invested by the team. If after several meetings a team member never connects the accomplishments of the team to the meeting, the meeting will be “competing” with the objectives of the team – not aiding it. Team leaders need to keep benchmarks and success stories in front of the team, so they feel their time is not being wasted.