Does the thought of an all-hands meeting make you cringe? If you said “yes”, you’re certainly not alone. We held a brainstorming session to revisit all-hands meetings. Since I personally enjoy our weekly team meetings, I’ve wondered why my friends who work at other companies lean the other way. 

We started by considering these three items: 1) what we like to know during meetings, 2) how we like to feel, and 3) what we should be able to do. Here’s where we landed (and these could apply to events beyond simply all-hands meetings):

1. Know

•     What's really going on
•     Business information/objectives
•     Major accomplishments  
•     Company status/future 
•     Goals and how to reach them
•     Priority of leadership/role

2. Feel

•     Inspired (this word came up more than once!)
•     Motivated to work harder, more efficiently, and to collaborate
•     Valued
•     Informed
•     Intrigued/curious

3. Do

•     Create healthy team camaraderie
•     Engage in behaviors to support priorities
•     Ask/provide feedback
•     Be able to take on own role
•     Task for action plan

While these bullet points will differ from company to company, they’re one way to jump start a your all-hands meeting, or really, most any event. So, try it out. Ask a colleague or your team to take a couple of minutes to write down their thoughts under each category and be amazed at where you end up! 

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