In our last post we laid out the case for the importance of staff meetings. Hopefully, you have come to understand the value of these meetings for both you, the priest, and your staff. We will now look at some considerations for making the staff meetings more productive and enjoyable.
In an excellent article on conducting staff meetings on Gaiku.io https://gaiku.io/blog/staff-meeting, Elise Veerman offers some great guidance and suggestions for holding effective staff meetings. We will attempt to summarize some of the most relevant points below.
This may seem obvious, but it is a point that is often forgotten – meet for a reason! As we stated previously it is important to have regularly scheduled meetings. It is, however, counterproductive if you are only meeting because you have to. Try and select topics that will be relevant to a broader cross section of the staff. This helps to keep more people engaged and participating. Often the meeting can be to share information but occasionally it would be good to involve the staff in some aspects of the decision-making process. This involvement can elicit buy-in and support for programs that are important to your success as a parish.
The meeting will be more effective if it is short and punchy rather than drawn out and not focused. One of the best ways to do this is to create an agenda and then share that agenda prior to the meeting. This allows staff the opportunity to come to the meeting prepared to discuss and act.
Veerman shared the following suggestions for the format of the meeting. Following this will also help you to develop an agenda.
- Welcome and news (5 minutes) – this includes major developments and new projects for the parish
- Praise and Recognition (5 minutes) – unfortunately we, as Catholics, tend to skip or neglect this step which is important for morale and productivity
- Review outstanding items from previous meeting (5-15 minutes) – this serves to ensure follow-up and continuity
- Discussion on goals/mission updates (5-15 minutes)– in general, “how are we doing?” – maintains focus on overall mission
- Project updates (5-15 minutes) – serves to inform the whole team of individual’s activities as well as a way to solicit input and participation from others
- Action items (10 minutes) – another area we tend to be deficient; it is important to assign tasks to specific individuals to ensure that agreed upon items will be addressed and by whom.
- Dismissal (2 minutes) – end on a positive note; a closing prayer and a blessing
Veerman also offered two other important suggestions. It is important that you start on time even if everyone is not present when you begin. This sends an important message that scheduled time will be respected and meeting will not drag on past time. She also suggested occasionally incorporating games or icebreakers into the meeting. This site offers some good suggestions https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/7-creative-icebreakers-for-all-ages-and-church-groups?gclid=CjwKCAiAkan9BRAqEiwAP9X6UQKlpU4kM8t1rGnvOddcnVpe92wi-W5t3tIZCN5-aZ2Dnx4Qa6mkjRoCPjAQAvD_BwE These serve as a way for people to get to know each other on a more personal level fostering greater collaboration.
Staff meetings can be difficult, but the benefits far outweigh that and a good leader must use all the tools available to create stronger team dynamics. Schedule your staff meeting now – don’t procrastinate.