It’s no surprise that the corporate world has shifted. As organizations swap in-person meetings for virtual, and adopt remote working capabilities, developing a healthy culture has only become more difficult for leaders. Effective leaders can establish a healthy culture through a regular meeting cadence.

Create Structure with Weekly Meetings

As a CEO, it is important to ensure I have dedicated time to meet with my team. Each week is structured with consistent communication paths to keep the team in the know.

  • Weekly CEO Update: Each week, I send an email to all associates announcing updates or news within the organization and what our focus as an organization will be for this week. One of my values as a leader is complete transparency. Providing updated financial reports ensures everyone is aware of how the organization is financially. Transparency leaves no room for whispering or worrying. Having this clear communication come straight from the CEO promotes trust within the organization.
  • Monday Morning Meetings: Start the week with focus and collaboration. The team gathers for an in-person meeting to discuss their objective for the week. This is a time we eat lunch together and designated in-person time allows the team to grow in relationship before the rest of the week working hybrid. This not only lets associates share a meal together, but also provides time for community-building conversions such as, ‘how was your weekend’ or ‘how are the kids?’.
  • Wednesday Wisdom allows the team a peek into the inner workings of the organization and allows associates to share with the team how their work contributes to the team’s success and keeps the wheels turning.
  • Fun Fridays give the team a break from business. One associate each week will put together a Kahoot or multiple trivia questions. Fun Fridays promote good rapport, share laughter and build a healthy team.
  • One-to-Ones are a key pillar in building trust. As CEOs, we work with all disciplines of our organization. (Marketing, Finance, Operations, HR, etc.) Consistent one-to-one meetings with each associate allow me to invest time into each associate and answer any questions or review any content they may have. This simultaneously builds relationships and sets time aside for this associate to have my full attention.
  • Month-end reports keep the team in the loop. After each month, the team meets via video call to review our financial reports, marketing statistics, events, etc. This meeting provides time for each division or department to share their status reports and accomplishments over the last month. This allows associates to reflect on their efforts from the prior month and to be thanked for their work.

Consistency Creates Effective Communication

When a team has developed structured communication, it allows associates to understand their ideas will be heard. Designated time for communication leads to streamlined project prioritization, problem-solving, and ideation. Effective leaders continually create space for new ideas.

Communication Creates Understanding and Trust

Without establishing a regular meeting cadence to keep the team on track, projects and small to-dos can easily be left behind or even become forgotten. Marcus Sipolt, President and Primary Business Coach at Blind Side shared his wisdom in a LinkedIn post, “Establishing consistent communications, whether that be daily huddles, weekly check-ins, and/or monthly financial analysis meetings, you create a rhythm that keeps everyone on track and ensures important discussions and decisions are not delayed or overlooked.” Meeting regularly with your team builds trust within the organization. When the team can see and hear each project an associate is working on, it builds trust, respect, value and understanding of how associates prioritize their time.

At Catholic Education Arizona, we embrace a well-structured meeting schedule to empower our team to strengthen relationships and nurture a healthy culture. Our team is driven by the mission to provide scholarships for underserved students through Arizona Individual and Corporate Tax Credits, donations, and planned gifts. To learn how you can change a life, visit CEAZ.org or call (602) 218-6542.