Traditionally, meetings fall pretty low in popularity rankings…they’re often considered a necessary evil. 😈 Over the course of our careers, most of us have attended at least one meeting that felt like a poor use of time. We may even wonder, “Why was this meeting called? Why am I here?”
Our experience at ProcessDriven is that the meeting agenda sets the tone for everything. If you have the right agenda, weekly team meetings can be more than just productive; they can build relationships and company culture and, dare we say, be downright fun.
In today’s video, CEO Layla Pomper shares her agenda format for ProcessDriven’s weekly, department-specific team meetings.
While this meeting format works beautifully for now, it’s worth noting that as your business and teams evolve, so should your agenda. No one-size-fits-all perfect team meeting agenda works across all time and space, so consider this video a jumping-off point for creating a plan that works for your current team structure!
Weekly Team Meeting Agenda OUTLINE
Currently, teams at ProcessDriven use ClickUp to plan and implement meeting agendas (timestamp 01:50). Here’s an overview of each meeting section and its purpose:
Who’s Here?
A quick checklist of who is in attendance for our records.
Notetaker
Call us crazy, but we use a human notetaker rather than fancy AI transcription software. The notetaker’s only job is capturing key information, action items, or decisions that aren’t already on the current agenda. Rather than acting as a transcriptionist, our notetaker’s work amounts to 5-10 minutes — recording anything unexpected that arises during team discussion.
Icebreaker
A simple question for the team starts us on a high note. It could be about everyone’s weekend plans, something funny about their pet or child, or any topic that helps us get to know each other better (timestamp 03:30).
These 5-10 minutes of casual conversation provide two benefits: 1. They help our remote team feel more connected to each other; and 2. it’s easy to pick up on people’s current moods and mindsets so it’s a chance to find out what’s happening outside work and if they need extra support.
Celebrations
An upbeat look at positive occurrences, personally or professionally. Joy and gratitude are part of our company culture, so this section aligns with our core values while providing time to acknowledge and support each other’s big and little wins.
Fail Fest
Rather than lamenting workplace challenges, we use this time to celebrate what we’ve learned from things that didn’t work out. These sessions are valuable for encouraging a culture of risk-taking rather than team members feeling that playing it safe is the only option (timestamp 05:40).
People need to feel comfortable discussing what went wrong in an open learning environment, whether it’s a social media snafu or membership email whoopsie. The alternative is too frequently a fear-based culture where employees hide or cover up mistakes which can lead to much bigger (and more costly) problems down the road.
Metrics
At ProcessDriven, we want people to engage with their metrics, not just track them (timestamp 07:00). During this portion of the meeting, each team member reacts to departmental metrics with an emoji and can add a note with a bit of performance insight.
Why is this figure high/low? What’s impacting this metric’s performance?
Tracking metrics is only one piece of the puzzle, and they aren’t much use without analysis! We use the Metrics session to model the benefits of being curious about KPI performance.
Capacity Check-In
Task and time tracking represents a limited view of the overall team performance. In this check-in, we want to align assignment data with how someone is actually doing. Team members are asked three questions: How are you feeling? How full is your plate? What is standing in your way? They can answer with emojis, text, or GIFs to keep answers quick and easy.
Calendar
An FYI section that provides a quick overview of important upcoming events, holidays, PTO, etc., that people may have forgotten about.
Just Sayin’
Team members can add status updates or items that don’t require additional discussion to this agenda section as a heads up to the team.
To Discuss
This quick list uses emojis to display topic urgency. Does it require discussion today, or should it be added to next week’s agenda?
Decisions and Actions
A notetaking space to track to-dos and tasks that have arisen during the meeting. Quickly turn action items into tasks right from the agenda (timestamp 14:00).
Inspiration/Jokes
Lastly, we end with something inspirational or funny to wrap up on a high note and send everyone back to work in a good mood. 🙌
Overall, this agenda takes about 60 minutes. We would love to hear how it compares to your meeting agendas. Is there something missing that works brilliantly for your teams? Did you find a key takeaway you’re excited to implement?
Join our Facebook group discussion or leave a comment on the video on our YouTube channel. We’d love to talk to you!
Want to try ClickUp for your meetings and task management? Sign up for free using our affiliate link here.
ProcessDriven helps small teams turn chaos into process. The ProcessDriven Approach™️ combines software expertise with practical process-first strategies that have helped 1,600+ teams build a scalable foundation of business systems.
