Two months ago, I started managing two managers with teams of their own. To limit meetings in our group and to "enable" the managers, I decreed that we would forego group meetings. The managers now have separate biweekly meetings of their teams to share status, news, etc. As a result, I now find that my two teams have little opportunity to interact and to feel like a team, and I have little occasion to interact with the team members. Most information is funneled through the managers. To rectify the situation, I would like to introduce a monthly team meeting of one hour. The purpose would be to develop the team and to address common issues. I would like to make the meeting as fun, productive, interactive, and valuable as possible. Any ideas?

-- Camille Dulaney (camille.dulaney@fmr.com), November 30, 1999

Answers

While I am somewhat confused by all the "teams" you are describing, it sounds a little like the situation we experienced when we started teams. The Department Manager met with each team leader and disseminated some information with the expectation that this would then get back to the team members. Prior to going to teams, the previous Department Manager just had a Group Meeting with all the people to disseminate any information about how the department was doing and discuss any other common issues. This last approach gave the Group a better feeling of "oneness". In the end, no matter how many teams you have, it is how they contribute to the success of the Department as a whole that will make or break the Company.

-- John E. Lamb (jelamb1325@msn.com), February 17, 2000.

I have been engaged in empowerment for over nine years and I have found that meetings play a crucial role in this process. Many avoid meetings because they are viewed as a waste of time and energy. Unfortunately this is true in many cases because those who chair these meetings typically make it their meeting ( communication going in one direction) with no clear agenda or minutes to fall back on. The meetings we find most successful have a written agenda covering topics for the good of the group. Individual issues were addressed through a line item in the agenda to set up separate meetings. We rotated the taking of the minutes and each topic of the agenda was presented by the variuos participants rather than the chairperson. It is important to make sure it is the participants meeting and that everyone is responsible and accountable for the outcome. Keep them engaged.

-- William Lindner (blindner@mciworld.com), March 13, 2000.