Company meetings could be held for a number of reasons such as process updates, event planning, simple reminders, news, and so on. It could be held anytime during office hours but you can apply certain techniques and follow some tips to make it more effective especially at the beginning (pre-shift) and at the end (post-shift) of the shift. Take advantage of the timing.
Pre-shift meetings are usually held to set the mood of the employees throughout the day or provide relevant updates that should be implemented. These may include new steps in the workflow or updates for the employees such as company policies. Always focus on the goal and say what you mean clearly as it might be misunderstood. Do not take too much time in pre-shift meetings. Use only around 10-15 minutes for the meeting as you may lose productivity. Be concise in the information you want to relay to them and take only enough questions and try to anticipate them as well. Go direct to the point. But as with any other company or business meetings, summarize what you have discussed before ending the meeting. Make sure they understood what you said.
You can also conduct a pre-shift meeting to boost your employees’ morale aside from the usual updates and processes. Diversity in the way you conduct meetings may attract interest in your employees. You could announce something really nice like upcoming events or even commend them for doing a good job. You could also introduce new additions to the team if there are any. On Mondays, ask them how they spent their weekends and take a minute or so and laugh a bit. This is effective during pre-shifts since it one of best way to make the employees feel good throughout the day. It is a very good chance to motivate them. If you could combine updates and improving their morale within a short amount of time, that would be better.
As for Post-shift meetings, the first thing to consider is what you need to relay to your employees and how should you conduct the meeting. It is most probable that majority of your employees are already tired and want to go home. If you’ve implemented something new, ask them how it went. Was it easy for them? Were there any challenges encountered or are there improvements that could be done? If it was a very tiring day especially if there was an influx of work that came in, give them a breather if you can. Let them relax and take note of their opinions. Just continue to remind them and set them off in a good mood.
If you’re a part of management, discuss it with the rest so that you can decide on what action to take if there is any. As with the pre-shift meeting, don’t take too long. An average of 10 minutes would do fine. If you can, do it within the last few minutes of the shift instead of doing it always after the shift ends.
In any case, always focus on your goal when you conduct meetings. Always ask yourself why you need to conduct the meeting in the first place. Make sure everyone understood what you meant and have someone take the minutes of the meeting so that if ever you have a meeting again, you can give updates on a previous agenda. Aside from the serious stuff, continue to motivate them and take the chance every meeting if possible. It’s a good time to bond with the whole team.
