“Meet” is not a four letter word
CASE STUDY
Communication is a key component to company success- both internally and with clients. After reading a thought-provoking resource book regarding why corporate America often falls short by having the wrong length and types of meetings, Resicom adopted an initiative to revamp our structure. Resicom team members are located throughout the country, yet communication must be streamlined between all levels of the team. We needed to ensure team members are informed, and directed toward common goals each day through these meetings.
Scope
The scope of work needed to execute the project includes:
- Develop a meeting outline detailing who would be included in the new meeting structure.
- Finalize times for each meeting to avoid department conflict and overlap.
- Track notes for each meeting in a place with company-wide visibility.
Challenges
The constraints of the project include:
- Create a format all company members can embrace and maintain.
- Team members are located in 3 of the 4 US time zones.
- Tracking the schedule and notes to provide visibility to participants while restricting access to confidential information.
- Ensuring that rollout of the new meeting structure is not disruptive to employees’ routine, and increases motivation and productivity.
Solution
We understood that the rollout of the new meeting structure would benefit the company greatly, therefore, employee input was incorporated to elicit the greatest buy-in. We alloted sufficient time to create, refine and audit the process. We ensured that the entire meeting initiative was in alignment with our core value of “clear, courageous communication.”
Our solution to this project included:
- Various applications from the reference book were discussed during a company wide staff meeting with everyone in attendance.
- A synopsis outlining each meeting type being explored was compiled including information on why each type of meeting was needed and the benefits to the company.
- A chart detailing the new meeting structure, times and participants was developed and distributed to all employees.
- The meeting system was incorporated into a robust and dynamic computer application already utilized company-wide.
- Attendance was tracked to encourage contribution and build routine.
Summary
After two months traction with the new meeting system, Resicom noticed significantly positive results. Teams experience better company unification and clarification in daily activities. Inter-department communication has increased resulting in positive transparency. Obstacles are identified quickly at the beginning of the day and addressed to boost individual productivity. Larger issues requiring more focused discussion are tackled during weekly tactical or project meetings, which frees up the day from overwhelming distractions. Resicom possessed a solid communication structure 2 months ago, but this improved system has led to a world-class communication system.
