It Happens! What to Do When Your Staff Meeting Flops

TL;DR:

Sometimes even the best of plans don’t go the way we want them to.
Plan for your next staff meeting, presentation, or lesson by planning ahead, adjusting when needed, and using your time wisely.

It happens! What to do when your staff meeting flops…

This is not the post I had planned to write for this month. However, if you read last month’s post on engaging staff meetings, this blog post is the perfect follow-up. This post is for any administrator, teacher, or coach whose best laid plans don’t always work out the way we want them to.

Have you ever been planning a lesson, meeting agenda, or presentation in your mind? You know exactly how you want it to go, what you will say or do to keep your audience engaged. You know the content and how important it is to share with your audience. Then you get to that lesson or meeting and it just doesn’t go the way you want. Maybe you stray from your plan or run out of time to fully prepare. It happens to all of us.

I strongly believe in having engaging classroom lessons and engaging staff meetings. No one wants to sit through anything they find boring and lacking any interest to them. I KNOW that. I KNOW how to create engaging meetings. And I KNOW that staff needs to interact with one another…just like our students in our classes.

The sea of faces told me they’d rather be anywhere but in that meeting. Click To Tweet

It Happens

This afternoon it happened to me. I did not prepare well enough. I strayed from my own meeting structure. I’d decided on my consistent meeting structure at the beginning of the year. We would always start by sharing our wins and something good that has happened to help us focus on positives. We would always close our meetings with a shout-out circle to give us the opportunity to recognize each other.

I went into my meeting ONLY focused on the content that I had to deliver. I knew this information was important for my staff to know and I wanted their input. When I saw them just staring back at me blankly, some with arms crossed and slouched in chairs, I knew that I had missed the mark. It happens.

Reflect

I make it a practice to reflect on how my day went. The things that went really well or the things that I may need to think more about. As I reflected on this meeting on my drive home, I realized it was my fault. It’s not the staff’s fault they were not more engaged. Just like it is not the students’ fault when they are not more engaged in our lessons. It is up to us to create meetings and lessons that engage our audience. We have to think about how we set the stage. What activities do we include? Music and chocolate can only take us so far. I had not stuck to my own plan. I did not look at other ways to share this information.

Plan Ahead

I did not plan ahead for this meeting. I thought for this one meeting that it would be OK to just go through the logistical information that I needed to share. And I stood in front of my staff and delivered this dry information to them.

It was not a discussion and only a few added to it or asked questions. The sea of faces told me they’d rather be anywhere but in that meeting. This was one of the worst staff meetings I have ever had. It’s easy to think after the meeting about what did not go well; however, this could have been avoided if I had planned ahead. I know what type of structure I wanted for my meeting.

I need to create a meeting ‘agenda’ template that will help me plan for my meetings. This agenda would include opening with our wins no matter what content needs to be delivered during the meeting. I will also make sure the agenda includes our round of kudos at the end. I will also plan for at least one interactive component of my meeting.

Adjust

This goes back to how we reflect. I think about what went well and what could have gone better or what I could have done differently after a meeting, lesson, or presentation. Everything doesn’t work the way we want it to every time. I’m going to take this information from my reflection and adjust. I’m already thinking about how I can better plan for and begin my next meeting. I need to stay true to the structure I had originally planned for my meetings. You can also adjust in the minute. When you’re looking out at a disengaged audience…ADJUST. Don’t keep going. Have an interactive activity that you can apply when needed. Be prepared for when you need to adjust.

Remember that we are responsible for whether or not we are engaging our audience. If I want my staff to interact and share their ideas and opinions, I need to find ways to make that happen. In my first meeting, I used the Game of 35 protocol which was highly successful. I need to look at other protocols and activities that I can use to still meet my goal of the meeting but also provide staff the opportunity to collaborate.

Maximize Time

Time is the most valuable thing we have with our staff…or students. We complain about not having enough time. Find ways to maximize the time that you do have. Planning ahead and using a structured lesson plan or agenda will allow you to use your time to the best of your ability. Think about how much time you really need to be doing all of the talking! We know that people learn best when they are doing something and not just listening to someone lecture. How can you get students or staff doing something in order to learn the content?

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Put It Together

As you get ready to plan your next staff meeting, presentation, or lesson, keep these strategies in mind:

Plan ahead. Don’t wing it! Keep to your structure.
Adjust. Be ready to adjust in the moment if you realize that your audience is not engaged with you.
Use your time wisely. How can you get your audience to be interactive with your content?

I’m already planning for my next staff meeting at the end of the month. I have an opportunity to redeem myself and create an interactive meeting that staff will enjoy. I’ll create an agenda that includes the consistent way I want to start and end my meetings. I will also check out the School Reform Initiatives list of protocols and use one to get my staff interacting and collaborating.

I wish you the best in planning your next meeting. I’d love to hear your ideas and strategies to make meetings more engaging!

About Bobbie French

Bobbie French is an educational leader, presenter and writer from Massachusetts.

Bobbie has been an educator for over 24 years. She has been an elementary guidance counselor, classroom teacher, special education coordinator, Title I Director, Preschool Director and Administrator.

Bobbie is passionate about focusing on the whole child and creating an environment where all students have a sense of belonging. She appreciates and recognizes the hard work of teachers, and is committed to supporting others to be their best for kids every day. Her passion and enthusiasm for creating a positive and engaging school culture is contagious.

Bobbie is also an avid photographer and loves to tell her school’s story.