We’ve all been in bad meetings. But the hard truth is, a successful meeting isn’t as simple as putting time on a calendar. Our series Meeting Heroes invites you to learn how to save the [work] day with your next gathering. You’ll never have to hear the phrase, “This meeting should have been an email,” again. (This was originally published on Managed by Q’s blog—helping inspire workplace professionals to create the best office experience, design, and culture.)
When it comes to sharing companywide news, celebrating team wins, and building a sense of camaraderie, few venues are more effective than an all-hands meeting.
When run well, all-hands meetings strengthen workplace community and ensure that everyone receives the same information, at the same time, in the same context. While the exact format and structure of teamwide meetings will evolve as your company grows and scales, these guidelines will help make sure your meetings are well-planned, effectively run, and worth your team’s time.
1. Establish a goal and purpose
At one of my previous jobs, all-hands meetings lacked a consistent schedule, goal, or agenda. They were usually called only when the director had to impart bad news like a funding shortfall or impending layoffs. As such, all-hands meetings instilled anxiety throughout the organization and were a missed opportunity for building culture and boosting morale.
Before scheduling your all-hands, work with your executive and people and culture teams to establish a clear purpose for the meetings. Think about what can be most effectively communicated in a meeting and what is best left to all-staff emails, your general channel in Slack, or departmental meetings.
“When you are planning an all-hands meeting, start with a goal,” says Ali Czarnecki, executive operations manager at Managed by Q. “All the content in the meeting should ladder up toward that goal and reinforce your company’s current strategy.”
Overall, your all-hands meeting should be a chance to bring everyone onto the same page, a vehicle for strengthening your team’s commitment to your company values, strategy, and community, and a chance to share wins and challenges.
2. Decide on a format and set an agenda
Once you are clear on why you are organizing all-hands meetings, home in on a format and structure your agenda. While many companies use all-hands meetings as a platform to broadcast executive messages, they can be more effective when they showcase a diversity of voices throughout the company. As Atlassian chief of staff Cathy Meade notes, “There’s the risk they turn into a lecture or webinar that nobody wants to attend.”
To avoid monotony, make a plan for interactivity and a variety of presenters. Common strategies include Q&A sessions with company leaders, shoutouts for colleagues who went above and beyond their job description, and lightning talks by different team members that shed light on their specific job functions or a major project.
For example, Managed by Q’s all-hands meetings are formatted to feature interactive sections. Each meeting is hosted by a different team member who introduces the meeting and facilitates transitions between speakers. The meetings open with introductions by new employees and announcements about promotions. They close with shoutouts that are submitted in advance and “AQAs” or “Ask Q Anything.” We also collect questions in advance so that the appropriate parties can have time to draft a response, as well as take questions live.
Czarnecki has iterated many different formats and agenda styles for Managed by Q’s all-hands meetings and emphasizes, “You need to be disciplined about what content is shared and what you want people to take away from the meeting. You only have so much time, and you need to use it thoughtfully.”
To ensure you use your time effectively, decide on a time limit, such as 45 minutes or an hour. As you outline your agenda, make sure that each section serves the goal and purpose you designate. Set start and end times for each section, and allow extra time for transitions so that the meeting won’t run long.
To help you format your all-hands meeting, use this simple sample agenda:
- Introduction: 5 minutes
- New hires and promotions: 5 minutes
- Lightning talk: 15 minutes
- Featured discussion: 15 minutes
- Shoutouts/wins: 10 minutes
- Q&A: 10 minutes
- Total: 50 minutes
3. Designate a clear owner of all-hands planning
Depending on your company structure, your office manager, executive assistant, or HR manager may be responsible for the planning and execution of all-hands meetings. This person should be responsible for scheduling the meeting, informing staff, assembling the agenda and slides, and prepping speakers. To best prepare the speakers, the meeting coordinator should meet with them to practice their talk, help edit their slides, and review protocol such as speaking into the mic and repeating any questions. At Managed by Q, Czarnecki starts coordinating each all-hands meeting two weeks in advance and does several run-throughs with each presenter.
The organizer should also work with the company brand designer to create a template for all-hands slides to ensure meetings not only reinforce company goals and strategy but are aligned with your overall brand.
4. Make a plan for remote workers and test your tech
Many companies rely on remote teams or operate across multiple locations, making an all-hands meeting a technological undertaking. Work with your IT department or provider to find a solution for broadcasting and recording the meeting that supports your needs. Especially important is to find a solution that allows two-way video and audio so remote employees can present and ask questions in real-time.
For global companies, vastly different time zones can prove especially challenging. Find a workable time for the majority of your offices and ensure those who will be watching a recording after the fact can feel included. For example, the Atlassian offices in Austin, Amsterdam, and Yokohama watch a prerecorded all-hands meeting the morning after it takes place. The company provides a catered breakfast in those offices so employees still feel like part of the event during the viewing.
Before your meeting, and especially if incorporating a new piece of technology, make sure you test your tech to ensure everything is in working order before the big day.
5. Set the tone
All-hands meetings are your chance to rally your entire company around your shared goals. Think about how to set the tone you want to achieve and build engagement and buy-in from your team. Is it a breakfast meeting with coffee, pastries, and fruit to energize everyone at the start of the work day? Or an end-of-the-day wind-down and celebration?
Czarnecki has experimented with the best time and tone for Q’s all-hands meetings and finally settled on Thursday afternoon. “Holding the meeting during the day felt like a distraction, and everyone wanted to get back to work. The end of the day feels more like a celebration,” she explains. The meeting is structured to be fast-paced and engaging, and drinks are served to add to the uplifting mood.
6. Follow up and ask for feedback
After your all-hands meeting, make all the slides, recording, and any relevant documents that were referenced easily accessible. Create a shared team folder or internal website where you place all-hands documents so team members know where to look for more information about subjects discussed in the meeting.
Consistently ask for employee feedback to make sure that your meetings are meeting their goals and employees feel they are a good use of their time. Directly after each meeting send a quick survey asking to rate the meeting on a scale of 1 to 5. Managed by Q uses Polly, a Slack plugin that enables users to create quick, easy, and anonymous polls. You can also ask for more in-depth feedback during regular employee surveys, such as Culture Amp or an office-operations survey.
Ultimately, the all-hands meeting you plan should match the culture, goals, and needs of your company and the information shared should be useful to everyone in attendance. In the words of Czarnecki: “All-hands is a chance to get everyone excited, engaged, onboard, and rally around a common goal.”
Managed by Q helps the world’s leading companies create inspiring offices and is part of The We Company.
