Ghaleb El Masri is a Managing Director and Partner at ADAPTOVATE.
One of the CEO’s most important tasks is effective resource allocation: marshaling the limited resources of an organization toward the highest-value outcomes. Given the current economic outlook, doing more with less is a topic that is top of mind for many leaders. As with most things, there is usually a trade-off. For example, less marketing spend equates to less revenue, less support staff leads to poorer service levels and so on.
But what if it didn’t have to be this way?
There lies the power of employee engagement as a key driver of greater productivity. While many organizations talk about and focus on engagement, I believe it is even more critical in challenging economic times.
According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report, engaged employees are more productive, provide better customer service and contribute to innovation. Conversely, disengaged employees can have significant costs. In fact, Gallup estimates that low engagement costs the global economy $7.8 trillion in lost productivity, which is equivalent to 11% of global GDP.
One effective and often overlooked grassroots way to increase engagement is by running better meetings and having your team members lead them. Research supports what many of us have privately thought: meetings are a waste of time. A survey from a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte found that employees likely don’t need to be in close to a third of the meetings they attend—resulting in an estimated $101 million of lost productivity time per year at large companies.
Too few workers are taught the techniques of running better meetings. Yet when managers give their direct reports the opportunity to facilitate the meeting, it boosts engagement. It sends the message that each employee plays a crucial role in the direction of the team. This fosters a culture of buy-in and collective ownership, where every person contributes to the overall success of the group.
In addition to promoting engagement, a staff-led approach to meetings is highly practical and efficient. When everyone shares the responsibility of driving alignment and collaboration, it relieves the burden on the manager, while still having a significant impact.
While it requires an initial investment in process and training to implement an effective cycle of planning meetings and training staff on how to run them, it’s an investment that can quickly pay off. In our company, we have seen the benefits firsthand. By investing in this critical practice, we were able to plan and deliver on the work required to scale rapidly from one to 10 offices in the past five years.
If you want to see similar benefits in your business, here are four key steps to follow:
1. Set The Stage
An effective planning session at the beginning of the quarter creates a firm foundation for subsequent meetings to build on. Partner with a senior member of your team to design the structure and allow them to lead the meeting. This team member should solicit feedback and input from every person on the team so that everyone has a role on the day of the meeting.
2. Create Focus And Prioritization
Use the meeting to set three to five objectives and key results (OKRs) for the next 12 weeks. The objectives outline the work that needs to be done, and the key results outline what success looks like. If the team’s OKRs align with the organization’s overall business plan, it should be clear to team members why their work matters and what they are contributing to, which can help motivate them to execute their tasks.
3. Break Work Into Sprints
In the quarterly meeting, break down the work involved in each objective into two-week increments. Each biweekly package should include details such as tactics, launch dates, interdependencies, risks and completion criteria.
At the end of each two-week sprint, team members should be able to report on whether they have delivered on their tasks or whether adjustments need to be made to the quarterly plan. This way, team members are responsible for reporting on their progress and holding themselves accountable, while also creating transparency for the leader and their peers.
4. Review And Adapt
The biweekly cycle includes both planning and review meetings. The planning meetings allow team members to brainstorm, troubleshoot and support each other as they delve into the details of the work ahead. The review meetings, on the other hand, let team members reflect on what went according to plan, what didn’t and what must be carried forward into the next sprint.
These meetings also provide an opportunity to address any roadblocks or risks that have been identified and to learn from past experiences. In our company, a newer team member runs these meetings, with responsibility rotating every quarter so that everyone has a chance to be involved and to develop their facilitation skills.
Empowering team members to prepare and moderate planning meetings can be a simple and effective way to improve engagement, foster a culture of responsibility and improve efficiency. Through effective quarterly meetings, setting objectives and key results, breaking down work into manageable increments and holding consistent biweekly meetings, you can create 360-degree accountability and transparency. Team members can stay aligned on goals and objectives and quickly address any issues or challenges that arise.
Helping your team become more self-sufficient does not mean being hands-off, however. It will still take involvement on your part, but your effort can be focused more on coaching than directing. You may also consider support from an external coach while getting started. Otherwise, you risk poorly run meetings, which can decrease productivity and morale. Over time, the more senior team members can help with the coaching and guidance, which is likely to lighten your workload in the long run.
If you stay consistent in upskilling and guiding your team, you should gradually see strong returns on your initial investment in process and training. As employees develop more ownership over the daily activities of running a business, they’ll become more engaged. And engaged employees feel more empowered to deliver better customer outcomes than other employees—in good and bad economic conditions, regardless of industry, organization size or geography.
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