6 types of team meetings you need (and 3 you don’t)

Meetings are an essential part of any team's workflow and collaboration. However, not all meetings are productive. In fact, poorly run and unnecessary meetings can drain time and morale. Knowing which team meetings to prioritize can optimize collaboration and efficiency.

This article will outline 6 types of meetings that are critical for team productivity and success. We'll also overview 3 common meetings that may not be the best use of your team's time. With purposeful planning and facilitation, your team's meetings can become an engine for innovation, engagement, and results, rather than an energy-suck.

By focusing your meeting schedule on the productive sessions below, and avoiding the time-wasters, your team can work smarter, not just harder. Read on to learn how to get the most out of your team's precious collaboration time.

Onboarding Meetings

Onboarding meetings are essential for getting new hires aligned with company goals and culture from day one. These meetings set clear expectations and introduce new employees to key team members.

The first onboarding meeting should cover high-level company goals, vision, and values. Ensure the new hire understands your mission statement and brand promise. Explain any traditions or cultural norms as well.

Schedule a meeting for the new employee to meet their manager and direct teammates. Let them get to know each other and start building relationships. Consider having the manager take the new hire out to lunch or coffee.

Create a meeting for introducing the new employee to cross-functional partners. Make connections with teams they'll collaborate with like sales, marketing, product, or engineering.

Set up 1:1 meetings with executives or veteran employees for mentoring and advice. New hires will appreciate learning from company experts.

Send a calendar invite for a benefits overview and to select healthcare plans if applicable. Don't overload them with too much information at once.

Schedule 30, 60 and 90 day check-ins to see how onboarding is going. Ask for feedback on their experience so far. Look for ways to improve your onboarding program over time.

Brainstorming Meetings

Brainstorming meetings are essential for teams to come together and generate new ideas and solutions. The key to a successful brainstorming session is creating an open and judgement-free environment that encourages creativity and builds on each other's ideas.

Start by clearly defining the problem or idea you want to brainstorm. Give participants time to think individually before sharing ideas as a group. Consider using brainstorming techniques like round-robin, sticky notes, or mind-mapping to get the juices flowing.

As ideas emerge, build energy and momentum by encouraging people to expand and riff on others' suggestions. Wild and wacky ideas are welcome in brainstorming - you never know what might spark creative solutions.

Make sure to capture all ideas without criticism. Evaluation comes later. The goal is to generate the broadest range of possibilities. A designated facilitator can help guide the discussion and ensure everyone participates.

End the session by reviewing all the ideas generated and discussing next steps for evaluating and prioritizing them. Send around a summary afterwards so there's a record to refer back to.

Brainstorming taps into the collective knowledge and perspective of the team. By supporting each other's creativity in an open and energetic environment, you gain fresh insights and innovative solutions.

Kickoff Meetings

Kickoff meetings are essential at the start of any new project or initiative. They bring the project team together to get aligned on goals, vision, responsibilities, and plans.

The key objectives of a kickoff meeting are:

• Aligning on goals and vision for the project - The kickoff presents an opportunity for leadership and stakeholders to communicate the objectives, desired outcomes, and success metrics for the project. This ensures everyone starts off with a shared understanding.
• Defining roles and responsibilities - The kickoff meeting allows you to clarify team member roles and responsibilities upfront. Documenting responsibilities provides clarity and accountability from day one.
• Creating a project plan - The kickoff enables the team to outline project phases, key milestones, and a high-level timeline. This roadmap guides work and keeps things on track. The project manager can then create a detailed project plan based on discussions.

An effective kickoff sets the stage for a smooth project execution. Team members feel informed and enabled to deliver based on the goals, plans, and expectations set during the meeting. This leads to greater alignment and reduces missteps down the line.

Feedback & Retrospective Meetings

Feedback and retrospective meetings provide dedicated time for teams to reflect on past projects or sprints. These meetings serve several important purposes:

• Reflecting on what went well and what can be improved - The team discusses their achievements and highlights areas for improvement. This allows everyone to learn from experience and continuously improve processes.
• Gathering feedback from team members - Each person shares their perspective on how things went. This ensures all voices are heard, not just the loudest. Feedback is collected in an open and constructive manner.
• Making adjustments for future sprints/projects - Based on the feedback and lessons learned, the team decides what they will change for upcoming work. This could involve adjusting team workflows, roles, tools, or processes. The goal is to implement changes to optimize team effectiveness over time.

Retrospective meetings provide the necessary time for teams to pause, reflect, and plan for improvement. Without this dedicated space for feedback, teams risk getting stuck in status quo ways of operating. Consistent retrospectives are essential for growth, learning, and continued team cohesion over the long term.

Budget & Financial Meetings

Budget and financial meetings are essential for keeping your team aligned on monetary matters. These meetings provide a dedicated time for reviewing financials, tracking progress against financial goals, discussing budget needs and adjustments, and making spending decisions as a team.

Key aspects to cover in budget and financial meetings include:

• Reviewing financial statements and reports. Look at budget vs actual spending, revenue and profit numbers, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and other financial reports as a team. Make sure everyone understands the current financial situation.
• Tracking progress on financial goals. Discuss how current financials are measuring up against the goals and projections you outlined for the year. Identify areas that are on track or exceeding expectations, as well as those that may need adjustment.
• Discussing budget needs and adjustments. Based on the current numbers, talk through what budget changes may be necessary. Consider where you may need to increase or decrease funds allocated to certain projects, departments, or initiatives. Get input from team members managing various budgets.
• Making spending decisions. When new spending needs arise, review the potential expenditures as a team before approving. Weigh the expected benefits against the costs, and determine funding priorities across the company.
• Forecasting. Look ahead to future budget needs and financial goals. Collaboratively estimate upcoming costs and map out a budget plan that supports your team’s objectives.

Regular financial meetings enable transparency into the numbers that drive the business. They provide an opportunity for strategic financial thinking and stewardship as a leadership team. Keep them focused and action-oriented by sticking to key reports, goals, and decisions. With routine financial meetings, you can keep everyone aligned on the financial state of the company.

Status Update Meetings

Status update meetings are often redundant, as the information shared is usually available in other reports or emails. These meetings frequently lack a clear purpose beyond repeating known information, making them an inefficient use of team time.

Key reasons why status update meetings may not be the best use of resources:

• Information shared is often available elsewhere: Status updates tend to repeat information team members already received via email, reports, or other channels. This makes the meeting redundant.
• Lack clear purpose: Beyond disseminating known status information, these meetings usually don't have a specific call to action or purpose. Without a purpose, they end up being more of a broadcast than a productive meeting.
• One-way communication: Status meetings generally involve one-way communication, with leaders or managers sharing updates. This misses out on the two-way dialogue that makes meetings meaningful.
• Better formats available: Sending status updates via email or a report allows people to review the information asynchronously. Scheduling time to repeat this information is often unnecessary.

Instead of defaulting to status update meetings, consider if reports or emails would work better. If meetings are necessary, aim to have two-way dialogue around specific goals. Make sure the purpose and desired outcomes are clear so the meeting is productive.

Meetings Without Agendas

Meetings without agendas often lack structure and focus. Without a clear agenda, it's easy for conversations to veer off track as there is no roadmap for discussion topics or desired outcomes. This makes it harder for attendees to prepare in advance or extract maximum value from the meeting.

Unstructured meetings tend to meander between various loosely related topics. Important issues may get overlooked while time is wasted rehashing points or speculating aimlessly. Participants are more likely to disengage without a clear purpose or objectives.

Meetings without agendas can sometimes work for informal brainstorming sessions. However, for most recurring team meetings, having a pre-defined agenda creates needed structure. The agenda outlines the topics to be covered, frame discussions productively, and maintain focus on desired goals or decisions.

Circulating an agenda beforehand allows attendees to come prepared. They can gather relevant information to share, consider discussion questions, and ensure they allocate enough time to each topic.

Overall, agendas transform meetings from an open-ended conversation to a focused use of everyone's time. They prevent important business from falling through the cracks while keeping interactions orderly, efficient, and aligned to organizational objectives.

If you're trouble learning how to write a Write Meeting Agenda, click the link.

Defaulting to In-Person

In-person meetings used to be the default for most teams, but with remote work becoming more common, that's no longer always the best option. There are a few reasons why defaulting to in-person meetings can be problematic:

• Can be unnecessary if remote options work - If your team is comfortable communicating over video chat or conference calls, requiring everyone to travel and meet in person may provide little extra benefit. As long as the remote tools enable clear communication and collaboration, the meeting goals can often be achieved without the overhead of an in-person gathering.
• Adds logistical overhead - Setting up a meeting in person requires booking a conference room, coordinating everyone's travel, and accounting for commute times. If even one key person ends up unable to make it, it can defeat the purpose. Remote meetings lift this logistical burden.
• Environmental impact of travel - In a time of increased climate consciousness, the environmental footprint of making employees travel unnecessarily should be considered. Remote options virtually eliminate this impact while still connecting your distributed team.

While there are certainly benefits to periodic in-person meetings, they shouldn't be the default habit. Consider if each situation truly requires being there in person, or if a remote option would work just as well. The logistical and environmental costs of defaulting to in-person are often underestimated.

Conclusion

Meetings are an essential part of team collaboration and productivity. But not all meetings are created equal. This article has covered 6 types of productive meetings worth prioritizing:

• Onboarding meetings to get new hires aligned and integrated into the team.
• Brainstorming meetings to generate new ideas and solutions.
• Kickoff meetings to launch new projects, products, or initiatives.
• Feedback and retrospective meetings to reflect on what's working and areas for improvement.
• Budget and financial meetings to align on fiscal goals, resources, and spending.

It's also wise to avoid common unproductive meeting types that can waste time and drain energy:

• Status update meetings often rehash information already known.
• Meetings without an agenda tend to meander without purpose.
• Defaulting to in-person meetings when a quick chat, email, or call could suffice.

The key takeaways are:

• Prioritize meetings that align, educate, ideate, or plan.
• Have a clear purpose and agenda for every meeting.
• Choose the right medium - consider asynchronous options like email if appropriate.
• End meetings that have run their useful course.

Carefully choosing the right meetings for your team's needs can maximize collaboration and progress.

Here are 5 Pro Tips To Maximize Productivity in Meetings

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