Run a Weekly All-hands Meeting

An all-hands meeting is a weekly meeting where everyone in the organization gets together. This meeting gives managers an opportunity to connect with employees and keep them in the loop. It also gives employees a chance to ask questions, share ideas, and give feedback.

How Long, How Often, and Who's Invited?

This meeting should occur weekly and last no longer than 30 minutes. Everyone in the organization, including management, should be invited to this meeting.

What to do in a Weekly All-hands Meeting

1. Broader vision:

Use the weekly all-hands meeting as an opportunity for managers to share the company's vision with employees. This helps employees understand the company's goals, which enables them to better contribute to the company's success.

2. State of the nation metrics:

Share key metrics with employees. This gives employees a sense of how the company is performing, which gives them clarity on how their work is contributing.

3. Customer and employee updates:

Give updates on both customers and employees. This helps employees understand the company's priorities.

Examples of some customer updates could be:

• We launched a new product
• We hired a new customer support person
• We gained a new customer
• We lost a customer
• We're piloting new customer support software

Examples of some employee updates could be:

• Tanya was promoted to manager
• Taylor joined our customer support team
• Tim left the company last week
• Tracy is coming back from her maternity leave next week
• Tyler is starting his vacation tomorrow

4. News and reminders:

Share any news or reminders with employees. This helps ensure that everyone is on the same page and up-to-date on what's going on in the company, which enables them to better contribute to the company's success.

5. Guest cameo:

Occasionally, invite a guest to the all-hands meeting. This could be someone from another department or even a customer. This helps employees get to know people from other parts of the company, industry, or customer base. (also, it gives employees the opportunity to ask questions, share ideas, and give feedback to the guests in attendance).

6. AMA (ask me anything):

Finally, give employees an opportunity to ask questions. This is an opportunity for employees to get clarification on anything they're unsure about. It's also a chance for managers to get feedback from employees.

An effective all-hands meeting can build trust and foster a sense of community with employees – if it has a powerful agenda! Try adding these six items.