FREE online courses on Being a Valuable Team Member - Team Meetings

 

Your team meeting is your meeting and therefore it is your responsibility to do whatever is called for to make it effective. Team meetings are not something that happen to you; they are something that you make happen. Your team leader, as a participating member, has a piece of the action but he is not solely responsible. And if your team has established a role called "meeting facilitator", that person might take the lead in reserving the meeting room, distributing the advance agenda, or similar tasks, but he is not totally responsible. Every single team member is responsible.

 

This is a drastic change in role definition for most team members and for team leaders as well. As a team member you can no longer afford to sit back and be an attendee, spectator, or complainer. You must be a full participant/observer, actively contributing to the content of the meeting and at the same time observing team dynamics and intervening when team members are behaving in dysfunctional ways. It's not an easy job but it most definitely is part of your responsibility as a team member.

 

If you view meetings as an event that someone else plans and leads and that you attend, this will not be an easy adjustment to make. And if your team leader is accustomed to being in charge of the meeting, the adjustment will be even more difficult. The first step in making the transition to this new role of participant/observer requires a major shift in mind-set by all. To behave responsibly, you must feel responsible. And your team leader must also be willing to share the responsibility.

 

Talk about how your meetings are structured, who decides what the agenda will be, what behaviors are inhibiting the team from accomplishing its intended tasks, and how the team feels at the end of the meeting and why. Then make some decisions collectively about what you can do to improve it.

 

Don't expect to feel comfortable right away with this added responsibility. It's like becoming a parent for the first time. There's so much to pay attention to. You can't sit back and expect others to make it happen. It's a hard job and it takes an incredible amount of energy.