FAQS ANSWERED

Like many business teams, theProTradeNet® team holds a weekly meeting where we each share updates about our current projects and respective assignments. While there is always important information in this type of meeting, it doesn’t take long for the cut-and-dry routine of reporting what you’re working on to become flat or stale. To keep things interesting, we started a new tradition. Each week, we have a different team member take a turn running our Monday meeting.

As usual, we kick off the meeting with the Dwyer Group®’s Code of Values, but before jumping into everyone’s weekly updates, our designated leader takes a few moments to share with everyone some tidbit of information he or she has recently learned. So far, our presentations have taken many forms – news articles, TED talks, fun games, selections from a professional development book, motivational quotes, team building exercises, etc. No matter the format, we use this opportunity to share something that we think is meaningful, inspirational, or valuable to our professional or personal growth.

Coming off of the Dwyer Group’s Year of Growth & Learning, we’ve found this new way of running our meeting to be really worthwhile and effective. Not only do we break up the haze of a Monday morning with a little bit of humor or insight, we’re also developing important leadership and public speaking skills. The sharing of ideas and knowledge also builds community and makes our team stronger. Plus, with your turn to lead always just around the corner, you have to stay sharp and on your game — you find yourself looking for opportunities to learn and grow and excited to share your latest discoveries.

Does your team have a regular staff meeting? As a business owner, how do you make sure it’s a valuable use of everyone’s time?

"Listening with the intent to understand what is being said and acknowledging that what is said is important to the speaker.”