Did you know over 69% of employees find their boss to be terrible at facilitating virtual meetings? That’s a strong statistic that should get leaders sitting up and taking notes!
Meetings are an unavoidable part of the workplace, and a traditional day for meetings is the Monday kick-off session to plan for the week ahead. Unfortunately, though, they have garnered a depressing reputation over the years for being dull, dreary and irrelevant.
But as hybrid work turns mainstream and organisations are looking for ways to create innovative work cultures that boost employee engagement, perhaps the Monday Morning Meeting could also be overhauled.
Read on to find out how to turn the dreaded Monday morning meeting into a success with our easy-to-follow tips on effective meeting strategies.
Is Monday the best day to have a morning meeting?
Despite the routine of a regular Monday meeting, they are actually the least favourite day for individuals to attend a meeting, along with Fridays, according to a recent study.
Just like there are least favourite days for hybrid employees to go into the office, there are always going to be times or days that people don’t enjoy meetings being scheduled. So, if the majority of individuals despise Monday meetings, are they worth having?
Advantages of Monday Meetings
Productivity is highest for employees at the start of the week and gradually decreases as the week goes on. Therefore, holding team meetings on a Monday could actually be the best thing for a team that needs to power through a long agenda.
Monday meetings are also a great way to set the week up and align the whole team in the same direction. Then follow-up meetings can be held later in the week to check that deadlines have been met.
Disadvantages Of Monday Meetings
Most people that work in an office dread their Monday mornings due to the media presenting a depressing image of the morning commute and grey office cubicle. Add to the mix, a formal team meeting and chances are, you’ll get a lot of people who don’t attend the Monday meeting or you’ll be met with unenthusiastic attendees with their cameras turned off.
If you are working in a hybrid environment, it can be difficult to coordinate a convenient time for everybody, especially if you are working across different time zones.
One person’s Monday morning might be someone else’s Sunday evening. Fortunately, there are tools that can help with scheduling and finding the best times for everyone.
What day of the week is best for a team meeting?
The best time for a weekly team meeting is 2.30 pm on a Tuesday. This was found to be the optimum time for a meeting which is not too early in the morning and not too late into the week for planning. The study was carried out by YouCanBookMe and was based on data from 530,000 meeting invites.
Choosing to hold a meeting on a Monday might still be the best time for your organisation, so figuring out how to make them as effective as possible is key.
Follow our top strategies on how to make Monday Morning Meetings a success.
7 Ways To Make Monday Meetings Memorable
1. Send Out An Agenda
Boost the productivity of your meetings by spending a little bit of your time on Friday afternoons writing the agenda ready for Monday morning.
You can send it out on Friday to give your team time to prep themselves for the meeting. That way you can all enter the meeting on Monday morning raring to go and swiftly check items on the agenda off.
2. Set A Time Limit
People start their weeks with a long list of to-dos to action and being forced to sit in on yet another meeting is not how they want to start their already busy week. In fact, roughly half of all meetings are perceived as a waste of time!
Maximise productivity by setting a fifteen-minute time limit for the meeting and then, actually stick to it! Employees will appreciate the efficiency and be grateful for the time they get back to start their Monday mornings off with a bang, getting through their work quickly.
3. Make It Motivational
Your Monday morning meeting doesn’t have to focus solely on business matters. You could use some of the time instead to invite guest speakers in for an inspirational talk or watch a motivational YouTube video on a topic designed to get the group fired up.
Remove the boredom factor from the meeting and make it something for the team to look forward to with a motivational aspect.
4. Focus On Bonding
If you’re a hybrid company then you might be struggling with a loss of culture as the organisation shifted from office-first to hybrid. One of the issues of hybrid cultures is the lack of opportunities for employees to build relationships with one another.
Strong organisations are built on strong company cultures and employees feeling a sense of belonging is central to that. Therefore, don’t underestimate the importance of relationship building in your team.
Turn your Monday meeting into an opportunity to bond and build social connections by introducing a social aspect to the event.
5. Change The Time Or Day
The evidence shows that Monday mornings are not a popular day or time for a meeting. Why not throw the rulebook away and ask your team to come up with a new date and time for the weekly meeting?
Individuals appreciate being asked for their opinion and will feel valued that you are taking their ideas into consideration. This could help with their involvement levels during team meetings and help avoid the dreaded camera off, microphone muted situation.
6. Don’t Be Tardy
One of the first rules of hybrid meeting etiquette is not turning up late. No one wants to waste ten to fifteen minutes waiting for attendees to turn up.
Implement strict rules that your Monday meeting waits for nobody. If it’s vital that everyone receives the information that is to be shared, opt to record the meeting for others to watch back later.
Your team will soon get the message that it’s a strict policy and will start to also treat you as a manager with more respect, which can be harder for younger leaders who are still learning how to be great hybrid managers.
7. Switch Up The Location
If your team meetings are an in-office event, then why not treat your team to a coffee in a cosy coffee shop to lighten the mood? If that’s not an option as you’re more of a remote-based team, try and encourage everyone to make a coffee to enjoy while you conduct the team meeting virtually.
With the power of positive association, you could even get your team excited about their weekly Monday morning meetings!
About Author
Graham Joyce is co-founder of DuoMe, a flexible working advocate and a frequent panellist/commentator on the issues of flexibility or hybrid working.
