With the holidays coming up, time is of the essence! While we wish every meeting could be an email, sometimes getting together face-to-face (even over the screen) is needed. Here are our favorite tips for running effective staff meetings this holiday season.

1) Set an Agenda

There is no worse feeling than leaving a meeting thinking that it could have been an email. To avoid wasting both your time and staff time, create a bullet point list of talking points so you don’t lose track of the important meeting points. You can even break the agenda down to time limits to really maximize everyone’s time. This prevents you from spending 20 minutes discussing mundane, less important talking points and keeps you on track for the important stuff.

2) Schedule Staff Meetings at the Same Time/Day

Staff meetings can be disruptive. but getting your staff onto a schedule can help minimize disruption. For example, schedule your staff meetings on Tuesday mornings. this way staff and you will be mentally prepped. For some people, meetings can really break up their day and disrupt their ability to concentrate and get back on task.

3) Take Notes

Notes can help you and the staff stay on task and remember the important points from the meeting. Taking notes allows you to quickly recall what was said or the next steps that were discussed that may be easy to forget when the meeting is over. Elephants may never forget but it’s likely you do sometimes so don’t be afraid to take notes. You can assign a single person to take notes and send them out to the rest of the staff or allow individual staff members to handle their own notes.

4) Follow Up

Sometimes meetings can be just announcements. but sometimes meetings require follow-ups. Follow-ups are especially important for any discussions during meetings that involve deadlines. But follow-ups can also include check-ins with staff who may appear to be distant or struggling. A follow-up may be necessary to check in with staff members to ensure that everything is okay.