Do you feel like you don’t get anything out of your team meetings? What happens if your meetings continue to be ineffective?
General Stanley McChrystal, a retired U.S. Army general and book author, cracked the code on how meetings helped them win the war on Al Qaeda.
In this week’s episode, we’ll talk about the same strategies and how you can apply them to your construction business so you can make it run without you.
Let’s jump into it!
The Military Way
It was in the early 2000s when the United States fought a war against the global terrorist group Al Qaeda.
The Special Armed Forces are highly-trained, as we all know; however, it was through this “big shift” that they were able to cripple down the terrorist group.
And the secret? Effective team meetings.
General Stanley McChrystal, retired army general and book author of Team of Teams, said in his book that they used their operations and intelligence brief, commonly called O&I, as an interactive discussion – a forum – instead of a stereotypical military briefing where junior personnel present their rehearsed updates and hope for no questions.
Furthermore, this type of O&I brief allowed all members of their organization to see problems solved in real-time rather than waiting for higher up’s approval.
It taught the people around him how to think instead of him telling them what to do, which is crucial when you’re at war that need immediate action.
Common Issues with Team Meetings
Team meetings are designed to relay important information, make your team feel heard, and plan for the future, among others. However, we’ve probably been to meetings, for lack of better words, that are just a waste of time.
Here are some of the other common problems I’ve seen in thousands of hours of meetings I’ve been involved in.
1. Some companies hold a meeting with no agenda or structure.
2. We have many great ideas and talk about them, but nothing really changes. There’s a lack of implementation.
3. In many cases, the team comes in unprepared for the meeting, and they don’t know what is expected of them.
3. Many meetings are all rearview mirror, talking about things that are already in the past.
If any of these happens to you and your construction team, you must do something.
How to Run an Effective Meeting
So think about the ripple effects of ineffective meetings. What happens if you don’t solve the problem(s) during your team meeting? What happens if your meetings continue to be ineffective over time?
If it continues, I could only see one major thing happening in hindsight – you’ll forever be tied down to your business working IN it rather than working ON it.
And to avoid that, here’s an overview of some of the best practices for construction team meetings that you can start implementing now.
1. As a construction business owner, you must establish the MIT list or the Most Important Things for the next four, six, or eight weeks and drill it down with your team.
2. Instead of people showing up at the meeting getting ready to play defense – waiting to see what’s asked of them – push that information to everybody else who will attend that meeting the day before.
3. Meeting time should be spent reviewing questions, concerns, or issues about the information already sent out the day before the meeting.
4. Avoid using meeting time to look at information or discuss information for the first time.
To know more about the best practices for running effective team meetings and how to slowly detach yourself from the day-to-day operations, watch or listen to the full episode above or HERE.
Additional Resources:
– Schedule a FREE breakthrough session now with our team HERE
– Learn how to get out of your business and make it run without you HERE
– Visit Construction Leading Edge for more HERE
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The Construction Leading Edge Podcast helps construction business owners maximize their revenue, eliminate chaos, systematize their work, and win back their time.
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