6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Planning an In-Person Team Meeting

Make Sure Your In Person Meetings are Worth the Commute!

For those “hybrid” teams splitting their time between home and the office, we are starting to hear about staff frustration around being “forced” into the office only to sit at a desk glued to their laptop or brought into task-oriented meetings that could just as easily been conducted virtually. If you are going to bring your team into the office, or your team comes in on certain days of the week, you want to plan and create meaningful collaboration opportunities.

Before you invite your team in office for a meeting, ensure you ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is the purpose (the ‘why we’re having a meeting’) clear and relevant to those attending?
2. Are the outcomes (the ‘what’ of the meeting) clear and relevant to those attending (e.g., addresses “what results are we expected to achieve in the meeting?”)
3. Are the meeting topics strategic and/or essential to creating alignment among members? Good reasons to meet include
   1. Strategic or operational planning
   2. Product or Process Innovation
   3. Solving a big thorny problem
   4. Strategic Project Kick Off
   5. Team Formation: Defining or re-aligning roles and responsibilities, prioritizing projects or tasks, defining communications (between members and other teams), etc.
4. Does the planned process or meeting structure include ample opportunity for collaboration and interactivity?

5. Could the information just as easily be shared via email or a shared collaboration space/tool without having to meet in person?

And, finally …

6. Will the time, energy and resources used to run the meeting be justified?

Do you have any ‘must have’ criteria that must be met before you meet in office?