The important team meeting that is often skipped

We understand — when work is coming across across our desk thick and fast we’re so focused on finishing one thing and ‘onto the next’, that we often choose to forgo a crucial step in the process.

With new tasks waiting in the wings, pausing to take-stock and look backwards can seem redundant — a waste of time. But in order to foster a growth mindset and continuous improvement within our teams, reflection and feedback sessions need to become a way-of-working constant.  

Wether it’s a de-brief, wrap-up or retrospective meeting — the key is to reflect on how a project, task or activity period was tackled and not only note areas of improvement, but celebrate what went well. These sessions help to build trust and reinforce collaboration within a team — by making debriefing a ‘habit’ the group will also become more comfortable and effective in how they identify, and communicate challenges and support one another.

Reflections sessions don’t have to time consuming, and they are not an opportunity to just ‘vent’. Here’s a quick framework to make them quick, simple and approachable for you team.

  • Firstly, find a frequency that suits you (weekly, monthly, or project by project)
  • Send out a simple reflection survey or ‘ideas box’ immediately after the work, project or activity period has completed (so that it’s fresh in everyone’s mind)
  • Send out an agenda before the session to keep the session on track 
  • Delegate someone to moderate the session and someone to take minutes
  • Provide a high-level overview of the project, task, what occurred over the period
  • Use open questions to create a conversation around ‘what went well, what didn’t’
  • ’Dig out’ and identify key action items and make a follow-up plan

Examples of open questions could include:

  • What went well? Why? 
  • What were some major road blocks? 
  • What didn’t go so well? 
  • What would we like to do (if we had our time again)? 
  • Do you feel you had the support and tools you needed?
  • How did this project, task, activity make you feel? Why?