This Meeting Could've Been an Email

Just a couple weeks ago, I put out a blog post titled One More Thing. The suggestion in that post was to implement a rhythm at the end of every meeting where each participant gets some time to speak up and share something with the group. Today, I continue my crusade to make your meetings better with a suggestion on how to start your meetings.

You're probably familiar with Safety Moments, where you have a quick talk about a specific topic pertaining to safety, usually at the beginning of a meeting. Keep those up! Now, also consider rotating in a Culture Moment, which is similar to a Safety Moment. A Culture Moment might cover inclusion, good teamwork, or anti-racism in the workplace.

I suggest using both Safety Moments and Culture Moments,

perhaps in a rhythm where you start your morning meetings with a Safety Moment and your afternoon meetings with a Culture Moment.

So, to review, I have now given you suggestions on what to do at the very beginning of your meetings and what to do at the very end of your meetings. Why am I taking such an interest in making your meetings better? For starters, of course no one wants to go to a meeting that "could've been an email." But really what I want to see more of out of meetings is productivity and collaboration. If every individual meeting is more productive and collaborative, that fosters in the team a feeling of belonging, which is (or at least should be) one of the biggest priorities in a company looking to enhance their employee experience (EX).

Implementing One More Thing, a Safety Moment, AND a Culture Moment to your meetings actually fits into multiple segments of this model. One More Thing fosters a sense of belonging to the team, and Safety & Culture Moments deliberately make the values and norms of the organization known. Put that all together, and you're building both Organizational Trust and a sense of doing Meaningful Work.

Sometimes it's the little things that make big impacts on EX. Setting aside 5 to 10 minutes at the beginning of every single meeting for a Safety or Culture Moment, then another 10 or so minutes for everyone to take One More Thing time makes a bigger impact over the long run than you might originally think. Plus, it means your employees won't walk out of their meetings saying "ugh, this could've just been an email."