How many of us sit through boring, unproductive and frustrating real estate meetings? What if we could turn those into engaging, relevant and worthwhile meetings that everyone looks forward to? There are two areas to focus on – meeting cadence and meeting content.
What’s the optimal meeting cadence?
Daily Huddles that last no more than 10-15 minutes (stand up) are to provide synchronization. Each person quickly answers the following questions: “What’s up?” “Where I’m stuck?” “My top priority of the day.” The Daily Huddle is designed to expose issues but not resolve them and to provide accountability for accelerating deliverables.
The Weekly Tactical meeting should be 60-90 minutes and is to review progress on the quarterly priorities, addressing one or two key issues and making decisions. This is the time for the team to collaborate using collective intelligence and not to listen to long-winded updates — which can be sent to everyone in advance.
The Monthly Strategic meeting is two to four hours, and the focus is to discuss, analyze, brainstorm and make decisions on critical issues affecting the long-term success of the business. It’s also a learning opportunity for leaders.
The Quarterly Review is a half to full day, preferably off-site. It’s the time to review strategy, industry trends, explore team cohesiveness and set priorities for the next 90 days.
The Annual Strategic Planning Meeting is a full day off-site. It’s the time to reflect on the previous year, what worked and what didn’t, and set the goals and targets for the coming year.
When it comes to content and to facilitate swift execution, Verne Harnish’s Scaling Up methodology refers to it as the 4D meeting. This model is focused around the 4Ds: Discover, Discuss, Decide and Delegate.
Discover: It’s always uplifting to start the meeting with a good news check-in. Each person quickly shares a personal and professional highlight. Then getting clarity on the current priorities and critical numbers will be the focus of the meeting.
Discuss: This is the time to address issues and brainstorm solutions. Everyone in the meeting should be active participants because if they weigh in, they are more likely to buy in.
Decide: Using the conversation from your discussion, it’s time to align and come to a decision. It’s important that everyone has made a commitment to the final decision, and that it will be communicated consistently to the rest of the company.
Delegate: Using the WWW (Who, What, When) template will make sure that deadlines are met and ownership is taken. This is the most important component of holding each other accountable to executing on the decisions that have been made.
Following these simple guidelines will improve meetings and ultimately, increase productivity, accountability and the overall company culture.