Implementing a Management Team Meeting and How to Make it Work
As a company grows, its day-to-day operations become more and more complex. Even when a company has the right structure in place to handle all the company’s transactions, communication within the company may not be flowing optimally. The interactions within the structure could be placing an undue burden on a person or a team within the company. A practice we recently developed, which is standard practice in many companies, is the creation of a management team to discuss ongoing management issues. A management team can help your company make communication across departments more fluid and effective.
I am the CEO in my company, Celaque and have been from day one, starting when our team numbered a total of just three people. The dynamics were of course very different then — managing communications and the workload in a small team was fairly easy. With time, however, we grew, and now we are in the final phases of selling/leasing and managing one building, the construction of another, and the development of a third project. Now, with many more transactions and interactions within the company, my role has shifted.
As we grew, I started to realize that I could no longer manage everything on my own. I couldn’t be the problem-fixer for every challenge that arose, nor could I be the center for all communications. This transition comes about slowly and can take you by surprise. One of the signs is that the load of work and responsibilities has gradually increased to an unsustainable level.
Being a CEO means different things to different people, but to me, being a CEO is about creating the environment in which others can do their best work. This includes experimenting with how the company’s structure is set up to see how it will help everybody perform their best. Sometimes you need to do more of something or stop doing something you have been used to doing altogether. Other times it’s about how interactions, including your own, occur within the structure.
To improve how we were communicating, we started holding management team meetings. This new initiative is one of the best recent implementations we have had at our company. The minute we had our first meeting, I felt an immense weight lifted off my shoulders. Because we hadn’t institutionalized this mechanism, I was responsible for the communication between teams, and I hadn’t realized how heavy a burden it was for me until it was no longer my responsibility.
A management team frequently meets to discuss the company’s direction and operations. In the meetings, the group discusses company-wide issues such as KPIs, personnel, budgets, and new strategies and initiatives. The management team meeting serves as a forum for communicating and collaborating across teams and to also strengthen the ties between managers of different departments.
Additionally, it serves as a tool for accountability. In the meeting, each of the managers describes the work they are doing and presents the metrics by which each department is measured. The meeting helps to ensure that the metrics are fully and accurately compiled on time and that the necessary work is being accomplished. The rest of the management team can provide helpful feedback to improve weak metrics or places where there is room for growth.
The transparency of information across departments helps the management team make more informed and better decisions in the day-to-day operations of the company. I have often found that as a CEO, I am positioned to make better decisions simply because I have access to more information. When knowledge is shared with others who can use it during their regular activities, they can improve the quality of their work and decision-making impact.
The meetings are also a great place to share team budgets. Similarly to metrics, budgets can be discussed by everybody on the team to ensure they are optimized. Every month, each manager can discuss his or her results. If a cost has gone over, the issue can be corrected promptly. The management team can provide feedback and share best practices across departments.
Another area where these sessions can be helpful is in establishing objectives and key results for the organization. If there is no management team meeting, only the CEO has the perspective to be able to set across-the-board objectives. Management team meetings are useful in any area where the entire company must get onboard and discuss an issue. If you have company-wide meetings, the topics can be set here as well.
The management team structure at Celaque has been a big improvement. It has made communication more fluid across teams, and in the process, they have empowered each of the departments even more as they manage their day-to-day processes and any challenges that arise.
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