In order for a team to function well, there needs to be communication between its members, here is a tip that I use to facilitate communication and learning amoungst my team members.
The Daily Meeting
First off, let me say that I dislike full team status meetings. Some people love them, I hate them. They can become huge productivity burns as an hour(s) evaporates from every team member’s work schedule. That said, sometimes a team meeting is worth the cost in time. The trick is to make the cost low and the benefit high. My solution to this situation is the Daily Team Meeting
The daily team meeting starts as soon as the team is all present. We keep it short, running around the room one by one giving a few minutes of status. It is also a time to share problems, new ideas etc with the team. Often in response to this sharing, another team member has knowledge or info to give back on the point raised. If it is a quick response, we deal with it in the meeting, but if it is likely to be a longer discussion, we move on, choosing to follow up in a smaller group after the meeting.
As manager I guide the meeting and keep it on track. I confirm any status updates & plans with each team member during their turn. I also raise any team wide issues for discussion.
10 – 15 minutes, we are done! (FYI – My team has 7 members, not including me) That’s pretty quick. I am convinced that we gain 10-15 minutes in productivity by having the team all being aware of what is going on around them and finding help from a teammate who already knows how to solve the problems that come up.
That’s is it, no other team meeting are necessary, unless a situation calls for one. No “one on one” status meetings. We are done! Less than an hour a week typically and much more useful than the once a week hourly meeting because the information is spread out over the week and more current.