Questions Every Good Weekly Meeting Facilitator Should Ask

Virtual and Remote meetings are harder to facilitate because the physical and emotional cues can't be read. Video helps, but only to a certain degree. The following blog highlights a few good weekly meeting questions for the facilitation of a great meeting, either online or through virtual web conferencing.

We teach the best practice of Weekly adjustment meetings using the Rhythm Software and Dashboards.

Recently, after taking a new team of Rhythm software users through their first Weekly Adjustment Meeting,they asked me to write down some of the questions I used while facilitating. The request really got me thinking. Who doesn’t need a few good weekly meeting facilitation questions in their back pocket, right?

When it comes to the Weekly Adjustment Meeting, a best practice is to share facilitation duties. It shouldn’t always fall to one person. And, if you are truly building team accountability, everyone needs to sharpen their facilitation and discussion skills. High performance organizations are very comfortable holding each other accountable and the Weekly Adjustment Meeting is a great place to flex that muscle.

There are four main Weekly Adjustment Meeting agenda items. Here are a few questions for each:

1. Good News – Start with a round of Good News from everyone on the team.

• Who wants to start with some personal Good News? (If no one volunteers, call on someone specific.)
• Who can help Joe with some Good News? (If someone says they don’t have any – not participating is not an option!)

2. Talk about your Company/Group – Review Yellow and Red KPIs and Priorities. Celebrate SuperGreens and turnarounds. Solve problems and make adjustments.  Rhythm Software allows you to manage your goals and priorities via weekly dashboards. 

• Can we use what we’ve learned anywhere else in the company?
• What’s the plan to get this back on track to Green?
• What roadblocks have come up and how can we help?
• Are there any Action Items I can record or adjust for you?
• Can anyone else on the team (or another team) help you get this on track to Green?
• Will this impact another team and are they aware?
• Do we know of anything else that has worked in a similar situation?
• Do we need to add a Comment and copy in anyone else?

3. Talk about Yourself – Each team member shares their Week-In-Sync Note.

• Do you need input or help on any of the your priorities for the week?
• Are you dependent on anyone else to move your items forward this week?
• Are you stuck on anything?

4. Talk about your Clients – Share any feedback received from clients or employees that the rest of the team needs to hear.

• Did anyone receive feedback from clients or employees this week that we need to discuss?
• Did anyone notice any trends this week that might prompt us to make adjustments?

As you close the meeting, ask if there is any topic that should be placed into the Parking Lot. Parking Lot items are usually bigger issues that can’t be solved in a Weekly Adjustment Meeting. They should be discussed in more depth at the next Quarterly Planning Session.

During the implementation of our software we teach, audit and facilitate the weekly meeting process. Call us for help in setting up your meeting Rhythm, we can accelerate the necessary change management for strong meetings.

Additional Rhythm Systems Meeting Resources:

How To Have Effective Weekly Staff Meetings (With Sample Agenda Template)

Download our weekly meeting agenda

Are You Having Weekly Meetings with Yourself?

Supercharge Your Meetings with This Effective Weekly Meeting Agenda

Weekly Adjustment Meetings vs. Weekly Status Meetings (Infographic)

Consider using Rhythm Software to run your weekly meeting, where the status and agenda are automatically created every week to keep you on track!

Photo Credit: iStock by Getty Image