FCB #005: Meeting Rhythm: The Heartbeat of Your Company

John D. Rockefeller met daily for lunch with his key people. Steve Jobs had lunch every day with Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer. What these two industry magnates knew was that regular meetings were essential for company growth and health.

The Meeting Cadence

• Daily – All employees are in a Daily Huddle that lasts less than 15 minutes.
• Weekly – All teams have a Weekly Team Meeting.
• Monthly – The entire company meets once a month for an All-Hands Meeting. Management meets with key vendors once a month or quarter in a Vendor Meeting. Supervisors meeting with direct reports in a One-on-One (1:1) Meeting once a month or quarter, and annually in a formal Annual Performance Review.
• Quarterly – The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) meets once a quarter for a Quarterly Planning Meeting.
• Annual – The SLT meets once a year for an Annual Planning Meeting. The CEO follows up with the entire company at the State-of-the-Company Meeting.

Meeting regularly and following fixed meeting agendas saves time and eliminates unnecessary interruptions. Meeting in a group creates performance-enhancing peer pressure, taps into the group’s collective intelligence, and ensures clear, efficient communication that everyone hears at the same time.

Now, a more in-depth look at the various types of meetings you should be striving for in your company...

Daily Huddle

A 5- to 15-minute meeting to discuss tactical issues and provide updates. This helps you avoid brush fires and allows you to take advantage of opportunities. This meeting will save team members an hour a day of needless emails, chat updates, and ad hoc interruptions. Leaders push any strategic issues that emerge to the Weekly Team Meeting. 

• Timing – Same time, same place, every day.
• Setting – Stand up to keep meeting brief.
• Attendees – Small companies: everyone. Larger companies: by office or team.
• Who Runs – Someone structured & disciplined. Might not be CEO.
• Agenda:
1. What’s Up? (In the next 24 hours)
2. Daily Metrics?
3. Where are you stuck?

Team Meeting

A 60- to 90-minute meeting to review progress on quarterly priorities, key metrics, market intelligence gathered, and tap collective intelligence to solve 1-2 issues. Team leaders push any repeated issues to the Quarterly Planning Meeting. 

• Timing – Same time, same place, every week.
• Setting – In person or via Zoom.
• Attendees – Small companies: SLT. Larger companies: by office or team.
• Who Runs – CEO, Senior Managing Director, or Team Leader.
• Agenda:
1. Good News (5 minutes)
2. Priorities (10 minutes)
3. Scorecard (10 minutes)
4. Customer & Employee Feedback (10 minutes)
5. 1-2 Issues Solving (30 minutes)
6. Tasks Summary (5 minutes)
7. Rating (5 minutes)

All-Hands Meeting

A 60-minute company meeting to share progress on strategic initiatives, recognize superior performance, and answer questions. 

• Timing – Coordinate best time for maximum attendance.
• Setting – In person or via Zoom with PowerPoint.
• Attendees – All staff.
• Who Runs – CEO.
• Agenda:
1. Good News (10 minutes)
2. Strategic Initiatives (20 minutes)
3. Key Metrics (10 minutes)
4. Employee Recognition (10 minutes)
5. Q&A (10 minutes)

Vendor Meeting

Management meets with key vendors monthly or quarterly in person or via Zoom for updates on operations & strategic initiatives, review metrics, discuss issues, and answer questions. Depending on company size, we suggest the following cadence:

• Bookkeeping/Accounting – Monthly
• Marketing Agency – Monthly
• Talent Agency – Monthly 
• Tax Accountant/CPA – Monthly or Quarterly
• IT Managed Services – Quarterly
• PEO Company - Quarterly

One-on-One (1:1) Meeting

One of the most important meetings of all, supervisors meet with each direct report monthly or quarterly, in person, to promote professional and personal growth, give the employee an open forum to share their ideas, frustrations and concerns, and allow them to share how the company can help them be their best and achieve the best results in their role. Potential topics:

• Frustrations and Issues
• Goals & Objectives – Professional & Personal
• Ideas & Suggestions

Once a year, supervisors realign this meeting to be a formal Annual Performance Review.

Quarterly Planning Meeting

A half- to full-day retreat where the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) meets away from the office to work on the business not in the business. The Quarterly Planning Meeting (QPM) provides space for the SLT to look back and assess progress towards annual and quarterly goals and look forward and prepare goals for the coming quarter.

• Timing – Quarterly. Half- to full-day retreat, preferably full-day.
• Setting – Offsite, In person.
• Attendees – Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
• Who Runs – CEO or Facilitator.
• Agenda:
1. Objectives – Walks through agenda and sets meeting goals.
2. Check-In – Each person shares (1) a personal and professional best, (2) what is and is not working, and (3) their expectations for the meeting.
3. Quarter Review – Review past quarter’s KPIs, Scorecard, and Rocks.
4. Core Competencies Review – Discuss Org Fitness Review results.
5. Focus Filters – Review organization’s vision & goals.
6. Operating System Upgrades – Focus on improving company’s operations.
7. 90-Day Goal Setting – Establish upcoming quarter’s goals & rocks.
8. Long-Term Issues – Look at and solve long-term issues.
9. Next Steps – Review all to-dos created for team accountability.
10. Conclude – Everyone provides feedback on the meeting & rates 1-10. 

Annual Planning Meeting

A one- to two-day retreat where the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) again meets away from the office to work on the business not in the business. The Annual Planning Meeting (APM) is like the QPM except the time horizon is an entire year vs. a single quarter.

• Timing – Annual. One- to two-day retreat, preferably two-day.
• Setting – Offsite, In person.
• Attendees – Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
• Who Runs – CEO or Facilitator.
• Agenda:
1. Objectives – Walks through agenda and sets meeting goals.
2. Check-In – Each person shares (1) a personal and professional best, (2) what is and is not working, and (3) their expectations for the meeting.
3. Quarter and Year Reviews – Review past quarter, then past year, for successes and room for improvement. Look at financial numbers, KPIs, Scorecard, Rocks, and 1-Year Goals.
4. Team Health Building – A few exercises that help the SLT connect as human beings, not just human doings. 
5. Core Competencies Review – Discuss Org Fitness Review results.
6. SWOT Analysis – Create or update your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). Add any Issue, Goal, or Rock candidates to the Long-Term Issues List.
7. Vision & Focus Filters – Create or review and revise the Vision.
8. 3-Year Goals – Create or review and revise 3-Year Goals.
9. 1-Year Goals – Create or review and revise 1-Year Goals.
10. 90-Day Goals – Create or review and revise 90-Day Goals.
11. Long-Term Issues – Work on solving major issues, permanently!
12. Next Steps – Review all to-dos created for team accountability.
13. Conclude – Everyone provides feedback on meeting & rates 1-10. 

Immediately following the APM, the CEO realigns the next Monthly All-Hands Meeting to be a State-of-the-Company Meeting. At this meeting, the CEO shares the revised Company Vision, Goals, and strategic initiatives, along with highlights of the past year’s performance and areas for improvement.

Conclusion

Meeting Rhythm is typically the “weakest link” in most businesses. A company’s meetings are where its leaders transform the company’s vision and goals into tangible results through the discipline of effective execution and accountability.

Most struggling companies either have no formalized meeting system or, if they do, fail to maintain a consistent meeting cadence. Creating and facilitating these various types of individual and team meetings is one of the best things a company can do to improve.

I hope this helps.

See you next week.

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