“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.”
— Steve Jobs
For you and your team truly to achieve success, communication is absolutely crucial.
Do you have regular meetings with your team? Or does the day-to-day workload sometimes (always)😬 get in the way?
When you do get together, do you manage to keep things on track? Or do team meetings tend to lose focus, become a little disorganised and almost ALWAYS overrun? Do a million things seem to come up last thing, under AOB? Maybe you reach the end with the feeling that not a great deal has been achieved, other than wasting a lot of time.
Have you tried the LION framework? This is an excellent format to help you have more purposeful and effective team meetings.
Before you get stuck in and become totally roar-some (sorry) :😊 there is one key thing to do:
Establish a regular weekly meeting with your team. Add it as an ongoing event in your diaries, and be consistent.
Let’s say, for example, you choose 10 o’clock every Tuesday: this becomes routine, and you are less likely to let it slide. Regular meetings are the best way to stay in touch with your team, and ensure that you are all working towards the same goals.
Make sure that all members of the team understand the importance of attending, and that they will all be expected to contribute.
So what exactly is LION?
The LION format has 4 simple steps:
LAST WEEK
ISSUES
OPPORTUNITIES
NEXT WEEK
L — Last Week — What did you achieve last week?
Firstly, reflect on last week. Each member of the team can contribute. What did they do? Did they achieve what they set out to do? What was the outcome? What went well? What needs improvement?
Think about what the team need to know from you, and what you need from them.
I — Issues — What issues did you face and how did you solve them?
Based on the discussion about last week, are there any ongoing issues? Any fresh obstacles you are expecting to crop up? Is there anything you know will require support from your team? Are there any problems that need to be resolved or worked on together?
This is the point in the meeting to assess how challenges can be tackled, and to identify who will take action to prevent further complications arising.
O — Opportunities — What opportunities have you or your team spotted this week?
What opportunities came up last week, and how did you take advantage of them? Is there an opportunity coming up, perhaps in your pipeline or within a current project? Do you have your sights set on a brand new opportunity and need to gather thoughts from your team?
If the whole team knows that this step will be a part of each weekly LION meeting, it prompts everyone to be more proactive in looking for possible opportunities during their working week.
N — Next Week — What do you commit to achieving next week?
What should you and your team focus on next week?
What key projects, targets and goals are people working towards?
What are the actions, commitments and decisions that need to be made in order to push forward?
What is happening in your diary next week?
Set the agenda for the coming week — and the next LION meeting — as a team, and ensure each team member knows what actions are required, and which targets are set for the next 7 days.
The aim of the LION framework is to focus the minds and actions of your team. Making notes in preparation for the next LION meeting ensures it will be more focused and structured. It should also minimise disruption during the rest of the week — non-urgent queries can be added to the LION notes to be raised in the next meeting.
This framework gives everyone a chance to be heard, and to get their views across about the business in a positive, proactive environment. It is also an ideal opportunity to give praise and encouragement to your team members, which can easily be overlooked with busy working schedules.
For your team to be effective, they need to know what they are aiming at, have the resilience to resolve their own issues, and be able to set goals for themselves. The LION format encourages continuous improvement and accountability, by actively encouraging all team members to play their part in the progression of your business.
“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”
— Henry Ford
