By Ernst Gemassmer, Chairman, Startup Professionals
Most of us view weekly staff meetings today with a degree of trepidation and frustration. Many have suggested that it is time re-engineer this process, or eliminate the meetings entirely.
In an old survey on staff meeting obstacles conducted by GroupSystems, I found the following not-so-surprising statistics for the average 50 minute staff meeting:
- Much time wasted on inefficient process – over 30% of the total time
- No meeting minutes or decisions recorded – 59% of the cases
- Nothing usable gained from meeting – 68% of respondents
These kind of statistics are often used to suggest that staff meetings be eliminated, but I don’t agree. I would assert that these meetings are necessary to run a company of any size, and are not a necessary evil. The alternative is chaos, or autocratic leadership.
The opposite of chaos is some type of democratic leadership, which requires regular meetings of all teams at every level, on a regular basis. In my experience, these can be very productive for all concerned. But the following basic principles are followed:
