If your business is going to hit its goals, team alignment and focus is essential. However, staying on track amidst competing priorities can be challenging and the last thing anyone wants is more meetings.
However, when done right, implementing a Weekly Sync meeting can be a powerful tool to increase team productivity and cohesion. Let's dive into how a weekly meeting can improve your team's effectiveness, reduce miscommunications, and stay on top of ongoing projects.
Why Use a Weekly Team Meeting?
The Weekly Sync meeting, designed to be structured and focused, keeps your team on track with quarterly objectives while addressing any challenges or opportunities.
My advice? Create a consistent cadence for these meetings so team members know what to expect each week, leading to streamlined communication and enhanced accountability.
Crafting Your Weekly Meeting Agenda
Here’s the weekly meeting agenda that I use when I coach my clients:
- Connect: Kick off the meeting with a brief check-in to foster camaraderie and celebrate wins from the previous week.
- Cadence: Review key metrics and objective progress to ensure everyone is aligned with the team's goals.
- Opportunities: Prioritize and address challenges or ideas identified by the team, using the D.A.T. method (Define, Align, Take Action) to guide discussions. This section should take up the majority of your meeting.
- Commit and Conclude: Review new action items and make sure they are assigned, rate the meeting's effectiveness, and conclude on a positive note.
Who Should Attend the Weekly Sync Meeting?
Almost without exception, your leadership team should hold a weekly sync meeting. It's also beneficial for departments or teams who collaborate closely to hold these meetings regularly.
Consistent attendance by the same team members ensures smoother communication and collaboration. However, be cautious about scheduling too many meetings that could overwhelm team members — make sure all in attendance benefit from and contribute to the weekly sync.
How Long Should Our Weekly Team Meeting Last?
I suggest setting aside at least 60 minutes for your Weekly Sync — up to 90 minutes if you're able. This timeframe allows your team to prioritize and tackle any challenges or ideas effectively. If your agenda is lighter on some weeks, you can always conclude the meeting earlier — having the full time reserved ensures you have enough time for productive discussions.
4 Tips for Implementing a Successful Weekly Sync Meeting
If you’re looking for a better way to lead a weekly team meeting, here are some tips to get you started:
- Download the Template: Download my free Weekly Sync Meeting template. It includes additional insight into what goes into each section of the agenda along with best practices to ensure your meeting is impactful.
- Schedule Regular Meetings and Stick to Them: Same time, same place each week. Be prompt with starting and ending the meeting on time to respect everyone’s time.
- Encourage Participation: Make attendance mandatory and foster an environment of open communication and collaboration — you want this to be a meeting that is productive and beneficial for all.
- Assign an Operator: The meeting operator will own the meeting, guiding the agenda and serving as the tiebreaker for any issues your team gets stuck on. (The template has additional tips for choosing an operator if you’re unsure who it should be for your team.)
Get Started With a Weekly Team Meeting that Works
Take your team's productivity to the next level by incorporating Weekly Sync meetings into your schedule (I suggest also committing to a Quarterly Refuel meeting as well).
When used effectively, you’ll see team alignment and focus soar within just a few weeks. With a clear agenda and a commitment to accountability, your team will be cruising toward your goals.
Take my weekly meeting agenda with you as a guide — it’s free to download and includes weekly sync best practices to get your team in sync ASAP.
