3 ways you should NOT end your staff meeting + the best way to!

​​Staff meetings can be draining. They can be for you and everyone involved. By the end of the staff meeting, many people feel depleted and just ready for it to be over. Ending a meeting with a low vibe is not a good thing!


How not to end a staff meeting
While ending a meeting on time is important, let me first describe three ways not to finish a staff meeting

• In a rush
• On a sour note
• With an update from one person while everyone else falls asleep

Tips to make meetings better
You can do many things to have staff meetings be more efficient and energizing instead of energy-draining. 

• Preparation is important
• Sharing the chairing of the meeting helps
• Creating fun team-building components make it worthwhile

Getting the work done
At some point, you need to get some business done. Your team is likely working on projects. Changes are happening. You are also dealing with the next steps of decisions that have been made. Moving forward is critical.

​3 things to end the meeting with
To ensure things are moving along, always and your meetings with three summarizing points written down:

Who said they would do what by when?
WHO
WHAT 
WHEN

Then make sure that summary comes back to the next meeting for accountability's sake to see where things stand. That list should be a review item of the next meeting. What did get done, what didn't and what still needs dealing with? Having that check-in will make your meetings more productive. 

TIP: If it feels like everything falls on you, then something is not right. You are the leader but not the almighty doer. Delegating, building collaboration and developing upcoming leaders are things you need to be working on to cultivate a strong team, a thriving culture and for your own sanity! 

• If you are doing the majority of the follow-up tasks, pause and ask yourself and your team which one of these could I let go of and someone else take on?

The 1 BIG thing to do at the end of the meeting
But there's one more thing you need to do before you end the meeting. How are you and the meeting will dictate what people say about how the meeting went. It's what they leave with that they remember most.

The FINAL thing you need to end the meeting with is specific appreciation.


Don't be general!
I am not talking about general comments like these:

Thanks, everyone, for doing your part! I know we're going through tough times. 

• That is NOT specific appreciation.

I appreciate everyone doing their best

• That is NOT specific appreciation.

Belinda, good job on the proposal last week.

• That is NOT specific appreciation.

The key to being specific is to be specific!
Try comments that are more specific like these ones
I appreciate working together to ensure we saw as many of our clients as possible this past week. We were up 10%

• That IS specific appreciation.

Jessica, thank you for helping me pull the data together for the application last week.

• That IS specific appreciation.

Denver, I can see that you are working to create fun experiences for your clients, like visiting the corn maze. It's great to see you being so creative and including your coworkers and their clients too.

• That IS specific appreciation.

Why is this ending important?
There are two reasons why ending staff meetings with appreciation is important.

1) Appreciation and recognition create engagement.
Gallup has identified that when we receive regular recognition, we are more engaged at work. And by regular, they are talking once a week!!!!


2) It creates good mojo
When you feel appreciated, you get a hit of dopamine which makes you feel good! That lifts your mood, your spirits and your energy. Leaving a meeting with a good vibe brings energy and positivity to the rest of your day, your team's day and thus to those around you. That's a good thing!

Staff meetings CAN be reenergizing. The way to do that is to be a bit more strategic about your energy, especially at the end of the meeting.