When payroll is tight one of the first thing that gets cut is often the monthly staff meeting. This is a mistake because store teams need this face-to-face time to train on new products, work on issues together, and continue to develop as a team. While e-learning and other vehicles can help transfer information to employees, you can't beat a monthly face-to-face meeting of the whole staff.
However, it is imperative that these meetings are productive, engaging, and result in a positive return on the time and payroll investment. Companies can't afford poorly run and poorly executed meetings.
Years ago I worked for a store manager who was scared to death to speak in front of group of people even if those people were her employees. Because of that our monthly store meetings consisted of her reading from a script while she fanned us with the shaking papers in her hands. We always thought about positioning an employee behind her in case she passed out. I was never sure who was in more pain, the staff or the manager.
I'm sure you run your meetings more smoothly than she did but since there's always room for improvement, here are some tips to crank up your meetings and fire up your team.
1. Don't use meeting time to transfer information. Unless you're hiring pre-school students, your staff can read and they don't need anyone to read memos to them. Assign all necessary reading before a meeting. The same holds true for new product information. Even if you're planning a splashy introduction of the product itself at the meeting, have the employees learn about them before the meeting starts.
2. Make the first five minutes of every staff meeting a WOW. Dress up as some character, crank up some music, have the employees up and dancing, throw candy and treats, do anything else you can do to get your team excited and pumped up. Yes, it gets harder and harder to top what you did last time, but since we expect our people to keep improving the customer experience shouldn't we do the same?
3. Introduce new products with style and flair. At Bose we went to great lengths to unveil new products to the entire company. I've come across very few employees who don't love getting to see - and play with - new products. Even when the staff knows the products are coming in you can still make the first time people see them a fun experience.
4. Use the meeting to apply what people have learned. Instead of discussing the details of a new product, talk about how to sell the new product. Do roleplaying and a competition on who can best state the benefits to the customer.
5. Play games (with a little friendly competition) to reinforce learning. I always like to split the staff up in teams and play games like Jeopardy and Retail Truth or Dare. And if you have any high school or college memories of Truth or Dare I assure you that this version is not like that one! Think role-playing and product knowledge.
A good store meeting should involve and engage the entire store team. The majority of the owner's/manager's time should be in planning the meeting, and not having to carry the whole meeting him/herself.
So let me ask, how engaging are your meetings and trainings?
Doug and Brian
However, it is imperative that these meetings are productive, engaging, and result in a positive return on the time and payroll investment. Companies can't afford poorly run and poorly executed meetings.
Years ago I worked for a store manager who was scared to death to speak in front of group of people even if those people were her employees. Because of that our monthly store meetings consisted of her reading from a script while she fanned us with the shaking papers in her hands. We always thought about positioning an employee behind her in case she passed out. I was never sure who was in more pain, the staff or the manager.
I'm sure you run your meetings more smoothly than she did but since there's always room for improvement, here are some tips to crank up your meetings and fire up your team.
1. Don't use meeting time to transfer information. Unless you're hiring pre-school students, your staff can read and they don't need anyone to read memos to them. Assign all necessary reading before a meeting. The same holds true for new product information. Even if you're planning a splashy introduction of the product itself at the meeting, have the employees learn about them before the meeting starts.
2. Make the first five minutes of every staff meeting a WOW. Dress up as some character, crank up some music, have the employees up and dancing, throw candy and treats, do anything else you can do to get your team excited and pumped up. Yes, it gets harder and harder to top what you did last time, but since we expect our people to keep improving the customer experience shouldn't we do the same?
3. Introduce new products with style and flair. At Bose we went to great lengths to unveil new products to the entire company. I've come across very few employees who don't love getting to see - and play with - new products. Even when the staff knows the products are coming in you can still make the first time people see them a fun experience.
4. Use the meeting to apply what people have learned. Instead of discussing the details of a new product, talk about how to sell the new product. Do roleplaying and a competition on who can best state the benefits to the customer.
5. Play games (with a little friendly competition) to reinforce learning. I always like to split the staff up in teams and play games like Jeopardy and Retail Truth or Dare. And if you have any high school or college memories of Truth or Dare I assure you that this version is not like that one! Think role-playing and product knowledge.
A good store meeting should involve and engage the entire store team. The majority of the owner's/manager's time should be in planning the meeting, and not having to carry the whole meeting him/herself.
So let me ask, how engaging are your meetings and trainings?
Doug and Brian
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