On the Purpose and Benefits of Meetings

Defining a purpose for the various meetings a team, department, or organization might hold is critical for several reasons. The most obvious is ensuring team members at the meeting know exactly why they’re there. But it goes much deeper than that. People are far more engaged in meetings when they know what’s expected of them and what they’ll be accountable for once the meeting ends. 

The key to defining that purpose is to think about context over content — the why more than the what. At Ninety, some of our meetings are focused on a single goal, while others have a combination of purposes.

Meeting Purpose #1: Accountability

Creating clear agreements and genuinely living up to them allows organizations to build something that will have sustained success over the long haul. Accountability, coupled with a good dose of honesty about what can and can’t be done in a given timeframe, allows individuals and larger teams to build trust and a sense of responsibility to each other.

Meeting Purpose #2: Issues Solving

Our recurring meetings include a section for raising, discussing, and resolving Issues — a process we call RDR — to guide us through efficient problem-solving as a team. Issues can be problems, opportunities, or both. We almost always solve an Issue with short-term action, such as creating a simple To-Do or a longer-term action, like creating a goal for the next quarter.

Meeting Purpose #3: Feedback

We’re huge believers in the power of talking about how we’re doing. Fact is, most performance problems and conflicts can be solved through timely and well-structured conversations. As a work-from-anywhere company, we find that we’re well connected across the organization when everyone participates in a Weekly Team Meeting with their team and a weekly 1-on-1 with their team leader.  

Meeting Purpose #4: Goal Setting

Our quarterly and annual meetings always include a section dedicated to setting goals. We do this at the Senior Leadership Team level, the department level, and the team level. Goals are almost always aligned and supportive of the vision laid out and shared with an entire company.

Meeting Purpose #5: Agreements

This one’s pretty simple. Most of our meetings are about getting agreements. We’re intent on getting super clear about who is going to do what and by when. 

Meeting Purpose #6: Teaching

Organizations that hold internal teaching and/or training sessions help team members maximize their performance by expanding their knowledge and skill sets. All great companies should embrace helping their employees acquire and develop their competencies. 

Meeting Purpose #7: Coaching

Coaching is about helping people get what they want by becoming better and better versions of themselves. To do this, a good coach will understand who that team member is and what they want. Armed with this, the coach can help them with the what, when, and how to best get from here to there.

Meeting Purpose #8: Bonding/Culture

Great organizations are constantly working on building and maintaining a healthy and durable culture. The relationships between people and groups, what seems to be working (or not), and how people support each other, solve challenges, or resolve conflict are all facets of organizational culture.

Read the full article from Ninety on The Purpose and Benefits of Meetings.