Do your employees know all that you think they know?

So many frustrations with employees. Why can’t they just do things the way I would do them? Well, maybe they don’t know how you would do them!

Good morning everyone, Thomas Joyner with Business on Purpose.

The past few weeks I’ve set up Weekly Team Meetings and trained local business owners on our process for that. 

The funny thing is we always get the same objection. “Thomas, we’ve tried it in the past and it doesn’t really work.”

You see, most team meetings are miserable. Boring. Basically pointless. They go on for way too long, they don’t accomplish what they should accomplish... and worst of all, there’s no follow-up.

So, what should a team meeting look like? What makes it worthwhile and game-changing for your business?

5 simple things:

1. A written agenda. 

If you don’t write it down it doesn’t exist. Here’s what writing things down shows your team… it shows them you’ve prepared. Shows them this is a legit meeting and gives them a predictable set of items that they know they will be asked about. Write out what you want to cover.

1. BIG Wins

If you’ve spent any time around us, you know we are all about BIG Wins. It stands for begin in gratitude. It’s simple but helps to make you feel known and seen. Gives it a personal touch in a meeting that normally feels all about business. But it also gives you rare insight into your teams life that you don’t get when you jump straight into business. Do it, every week.

1. Follow up from last week's action items

Nothing is more frustrating than being asked to do something and then never get any feedback. This is your chance to hold your team accountable. You don’t need to list everything your team needs to do, but what are the main focus points from the last meeting and how did they go. 

1. Next week’s action items, or action items for the near future

Again, if your team knows they will be asked about them at the next team meeting, they can plan accordingly and execute the plan. Give them the things to focus on and let them know y’all will talk about it next week.

1. 5-10 min of Training

This is where you get creative. Pick one process each week and train the entire team. Let everyone poke holes in the workflow or give feedback on things. Businesses want to do these day long or multi-day training days, and while that’s great, your team retains less of it than you think. But if you can build 5-10 min of training into each team meeting, times 52 weeks... that’s A LOT of training throughout the course of the year. Served up to your team in bite-size chunks they can digest and be held accountable.

So back to my clients... I’ve had to try their first team meetings in the last 2 weeks. The first one came back and said it was one of the best things they had done this year. He picked an easy process, how to set up your service truck every day. What are the things you don’t leave the shop without? 

You know what? They had no idea what they were responsible for having on their truck every day. They grew as a team. So, next time something happens, the business owner isn’t driving it out to them on the job site, or they aren’t getting paid to drive back to the office for supplies. Their trucks and employees are ready for whatever comes.

That changes your business! That gives you freedom from the chaos!

And when, inevitably, one of your team members fails in an area. Hey, it’s ok, but we talked about this. You were trained on our process. That’s radical accountability that brings the performance of your team up every day.

So, what’s stopping you from having a team meeting? Is it the thought of, “Oh, well they just don’t work for us.” 

It’s not true. Build out your process, implement it, and watch your team grow.

I can’t wait to hear some stories of successful team meetings. 

Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube and podcast. So much great stuff on there.

Have a great weekend!