Most people feel that meetings are too frequent, and too long.

Bear in mind that people in a group do not always reveal their true feelings.
There are rivalries and dislikes you may be completely unaware of.


You may find out more by meeting with people one on one. The crucial question is, "What do you need from others on the team, specifically, to get your job done?"

After you collect all that, you need to meet with each person again, and ORDER them to provide what you agree the others need. This way, it comes from you, not them.

The worst problem in any team is communication. Either too much or too little. It is up to you to establish how often and in what way information is shared. You have to have gathred, from the one-on-one meetings with people, a very specific list of what each person needs to know, and when, and from who. Then you need to ORDER the information-provider to deliver in a manner that is clear and timely.

In a group meeting, Sam will always agree when Judy says she needs weekly progress reports, but it won't happen, because in reality Sam is too busy to do that. Only in a one-on-one meeting with you will Sam be able to honestly tell you that he can't deliver on what Judy needs, and why. That is the place to work it out, not in a group where he has to admit being not able to fulfill the job. It is then up to you to decide how this can get done.

you can play musical chairs..but instead of a person being out, you take a away a chair. 'Course, someone will inevidably sue for sexual harrassment.

Take the team out for an afternoon activity. Don't keep the meetings in a meeting room. Go out for lunch, then do something like go-cart racing or paintball. Go to a place like GameWorks (an arcade designed for adults, there is another similar place I think it's called something like Busters). It will energize them and they will talk about it for months. Get people out and mix the business with fun. People need to break up the routine on occasion. Do it every six months or so.


If you want to keep things in the office, walk into the meeting with something unusual and fun for no reason. Cake, ice cream, pinata something like that. Or, if you have a great sense of humour, walk in wearing something that will make everyone laugh. Rent a clown wig wear a hawaiian shirt something like that.