A team meeting at its core has the purpose of sharing information efficiently and provide scope for discussion around what is being hared. A good team meeting assists teams in aligning on the topics of discussion, air any concerns or obstacles and have clarity on future actions.

Sometimes a team meeting may be called a WIP, which stands for works in progress, and is generally an update on how the projects are overall progressing and if there needs to be further action from other members to assist in the progression.

The exact purpose of a team meeting is decided by the topics in the agenda and the business needs of the meeting and your organization.

Your team meeting might be business-critical – a place where company developments or valuable information or training are shared. Team meetings can also be where your staff are able to spend time together informally and share what’s on their mind.

Not only does a team meeting allow you to catch yourself up on what your team is currently working on (and get you acquainted with how things are travelling), a team meeting also allows you to:

• Improve and boost team morale
• Ensure that your team is constantly learning and upskilling
• Provide transparency within the team about what is happening, when and why
• Allow the team to have the chance to re-centre themselves, and know their set priorities and goals for the next month.

A team meeting does not necessarily have to be an overly formal meeting. It can be as simple as a quick discussion with everyone at the start of the week to lay out what is needed from each other, and where things are tracking. As long as there is regular communication between members of the team during the meetings, issues can be brought up, actioned and resolved quickly during team meetings.

To ensure that your team meetings are used effectively, ensure that you are fully prepared with what you require from it. Making a list of topics for discussion, how the projects are progressing and any immediate concerns you might have will help facilitate discussions during the meeting.