Every Friday we have a meeting with all members of our team. We start the meeting with personal wins, professional wins and one thank you to someone you would like to acknowledge for the week (doesn't have to be someone on the team/in the room). This week the head of our Member Services Department, Angela, shared her personal win, which was also her professional win. And, I have to say, for so many reasons, it turned into a win for many of us.
Here's what Angela excitedly shared: “My win this week was our weekly CCI Meeting. Marci and Molly coaching to the entire CCI team helped me personally on so many levels. I was struggling with many things in my life, and after that call I walked away with not only a whole new perspective but excitement about how I could turn some things that were not working into a win. I never really understood why you had me sitting in these various meetings that didn’t necessarily pertain to my direct job. Now I get it, WOW!”
Our teams are often unclear as to why they are attending many of the meetings we have them in. Sometimes we hear those exact words – “Why am I here, what am I doing sitting in on this meeting, why do I need to be sitting in on this meeting.” Or, if we are paying close attention, we “hear” it visually with the eye rolling, disengagement, lack of note taking, lack of clarifying questions and/or input, that they have no idea why they are there.
Angela’s win this week reminded me that we all should take a few seconds and clarify our intention for having our team sit in on certain meetings, teleconferences or whatever we are trying to enroll them in. A simple “locker room huddle” prior to the event:
- In prep: “The reason I want you to attend is to ______ (observe or plan to propose something afterwards)”;
- During: “And what I expect to you to do during the meeting is ______ (take notes, just be present, present x afterwards)”;
- After the event: “And I would like you to or expect for you and I to _____ ( spend 10 minutes immediately after to debrief, schedule a one-hour strategy meeting after maybe four or five weeks of these calls so you can get as much info as possible, and then we can see where you stand in your current role.
Angela’s “simple” win was so very powerful, as it reminded me to let people know the intentions of an invite vs. allowing them to flounder in “why am I here?” Angela is now not only excited for next week's CCI Meeting but also definitely sees the endless opportunities available for her personally. But if we didn’t have the weekly team meeting “WINS” format, I'm not certain we would have know what an impact it made on the member services team, and we would also have missed a great reminder to answer the question of “why am I here” prior to each meeting.
If you are not having weekly team meetings and would like a suggested agenda, please email me at mhall@lawyerswithpurpose.com to receive a complimentary agenda.
Molly L. Hall, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC, and author of Don’t Be a Yes Chick: How to Stop Babysitting Your Boss, Transform Your Job and Work with a Dream Team Without Losing Your Sanity or Your Spirit in the Process.
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