Daily Meetings:

Well, do I hear you murmuring – not another video call meeting. Yes, that’s true, but I would say this is the most important meeting of the day. Every morning for more than a year we meet at 09.30 between 5 – 15 minutes to start the day together. The idea is that at least once a day we can all see each other and talk about everyday things. I have to admit that especially on Monday mornings the team is not that talkative and very often I wonder if they find the meeting useful. But when I ask them if I should reduce it, they all agree that they want to keep it. To avoid silence, I prepare a bit and actively try to stimulate a discussion/talk. The following topics are great for this:

• News: Corona rules, What’s happening in the world,. 
• The weather & plans for the weekend: Tips for hiking routes or Corona Confirme excursion tips,….
• New series: Netflix & co. – Always good to talk about series or movies. Good to get tips for a rainy weekend.
• Feelings: Be honest and talk about how you feel. Also as a lead we don’t have to be happy all the time and can admit when it gets too much for us too. It seems much more authentic and it helps the team to recognize that everyone is feeling the same way right now.
• Projects: We celebrate when a campaign has gone live, a client meeting went particularly well or was exhausting and share our experiences with the others. It’s nice to see how everyone is interested in the others projects and also gives tips.

Don’t be upset if it takes a little time for everyone to join in the conversation or if no one says anything from time to time. If it is really bad and I want to make them laugh, I tease my team that they are very taciturn. But be careful, you should not do this too often or the effect will be lost. 

Walk & Talk Meeting:

Every second Friday, our morning meeting is held in the afternoon and outside while walking. The mixture of movement and seeing how each other’s environment changes creates a very relaxed and informal atmosphere. Especially when the team members are in different countries or cities, it’s a lot of fun. You feel like a little city guide or influencer and earn some funny looks from people passing you by. In these 15 – 25 minutes we had the funniest conversations – almost like in the office. And what better way to kick off the weekend than with a laughing and sometimes goofing around team?!

Team JF:

Every two weeks we have a Team JF where we discuss organizational things, give updates or discuss a specific topic. I like to use the meeting to get their opinion & involve them on cross-departmental topics or prepare a session on topics that are close to my heart and I would like to discuss with them e.g. what can we do in the HomeOffice Situation to feel better, Resilience, How do we deal with the meeting craziness.

1:1:

I have a 1:1 with all my team members. Depending on rank (I know that sounds unfair), I have it every two weeks (with my youngest/lowest rank) and weekly (with my most experienced /middle & highest rank). Our youngest (based on rank) have an additional weekly 1:1 with an assigned experienced team member. In this way I can give my experienced team members more responsibilities. In my 1:1 we discuss the week, ongoing projects and new challenges, and also how we are feeling personally. I always really look forward to this half hour with them and could very often continue to talk with them for hours. It also helps me to get an assessment of how they are doing at the moment and what the challenges are they are facing and we might need to solve  across departments. 

Breaks:

I have set 2 x 15 minute break meetings. These are reminders in their calendar to get up at that exact time, get a drink and relax. I have also set a meeting at 18.30 to remind them that we stop working now.

Rules:

I am very strict about our rules and keeping them. Of course, there are always reasons why we can’t follow them, but otherwise we all follow them.

• Camera on: In meetings, the camera is on. 
• Be available: We participate in team meetings.
• Take Care: We take care of each other
• Transparency: We are honest and transparent.
• Breaks: We do breaks and respect them!