Here are the Five Keys to Having Successful Staff Meetings

How often does your staff meet? Are the meetings productive? Successful? In my experience as an Executive Pastor, I went through many iterations of attempting to have great staff meetings. While I wouldn't say I ever got it "perfect," I would say we did a pretty good job with it.

We met every Wednesday at noon and began with a brown bag lunch. Here's what I'd say are the top five "keys" to having successful staff meetings:

1. Have a Start and Stop Time - Begin and end the meeting on time. Create an "on-time" culture and insist everyone be at the table and ready at the start. Also, respect everyone's schedule by managing this time well.

2. Have a Formal Agenda - Preferably, a day before the meeting, publish a formal agenda. It's crucial that the staff know what's on the agenda and even have an opportunity to get things on the agenda.

3. Develop a "Schedule of Topics" - We created a schedule of topics to ensure specific topics were always covered. For example, we reviewed our strategic plan in the second meeting of each month. Each staff member gave an update on their key tactics. To keep the meeting on schedule, each person had a 5-minute limit!

4. Have a Meal Together - Everyone brought lunch to the meeting. We believed it was important that the team share at least one meal each week.

5. Have Fun! - We always tried to keep it fun. For the first 10 or 15 minutes of the meeting, while we were eating, we just had fun together. On our schedule of topics, the 5th meeting of the month (when it happened) was a "fun day." We'd usually get out of the office to do something fun together instead of the other meetings' formal agenda.

Implementing these five keys can transform your staff meetings from routine gatherings into valuable, engaging, and productive team experiences. By respecting time, setting clear agendas, fostering communication, and creating an enjoyable atmosphere, you not only improve efficiency but also strengthen relationships within your team. Remember, great staff meetings don’t happen by accident—they require intentional planning and a commitment to continuous improvement. Start applying these principles, and watch your meetings become a highlight of the workweek!