The holidays are over and employees are now coming back to work feeling energized about what the New Year has to offer. These first couple of weeks are the perfect time to hold your 2020 kickoff meeting. This is a great way to set expectations and build rapport with employees. Adam Honig, co-founder and CEO of Spiro, says kickoff meetings of any type are especially important for nailing down what success looks like for your employees and the company.
What does it take to hold a successful kickoff meeting?
- A detailed agenda.
Don’t go into the meeting poorly prepared or you’ll wind up wasting time and forgetting to cover important items. Make sure to list the topics you need to cover, and in the order you wish to cover them. Inform your team of the agenda at the start of the meeting and allow 5-10 minutes for employees to make suggestions and adjustments.
- A review of company goals.
Even if you are confident your team is on the same page you are, spending time writing out and reviewing company goals is important. Not only does this get each team member on the same page but it also gives your employees a chance to see how their position relates to each goal and what steps they need to take individually to contribute to the company’s success.
- A plan of action.
It’s one thing to lay out what you hope to achieve over the next 12 months – it’s entirely different to know how you will do it. An annual kickoff meeting is a time not simply to set goals and make predictions, but also to lay out actionable steps that will put you on the path to reaching your goals.
- Integrate team-building.
Once you’ve gone through the agenda, discussed goals, formulated a plan of action, etc., leave time for some fun activities that will help your team get to know one another better and encourage spending social time together outside the office — a powerful team-building force. You can even connect a team-building activity at the kickoff meeting with the completion of a specific goal. For example, “Once the team has completed XYZ, we’ll go to the Escape Room.”
- Send a follow-up email.
While it’s critical to discuss action items and next steps during the meeting, it is no less essential to follow up with a written summary. Including notes from the meeting in your follow-up message is another way to keep everyone on the same page and focused on where the team needs to be headed.
- The Artizen Staffing team
written by Danielle Foster
