Executive Staff Meeting

An executive staff meeting is a meeting that includes the senior leadership of a company. For example, members of the board would typically attend an executive meeting, while the leadership team as a whole may or may not be invited. Sensitive and/or confidential information related to the organization is often discussed at this kind of meeting.

An executive staff meeting may have several objectives, including:

• To foster collaboration between executives and their respective departments
• To make key strategic decisions about the direction the company should take
• To assess the current "health" of the organization, and determine what adjustments should be made, if any

Whatever the exact objectives of the executive meeting may be, it's vital to compile and distribute an agenda for the attendees well in advance. Only then will the meeting proceed smoothly, and successfully achieve its goals.

What should you include in your executive staff meeting agenda?

The specific discussion points you include in your agenda will obviously depend to a large extent on the size and nature of your organization, not to mention the makeup of your executive team. However, there should be two basic goals for each executive meeting:

1. To strengthen the organization
2. To promote the unity of the executive team

With those two objectives in mind, here are some specific agenda points you will likely want to include:

1. Personal updates

It's impossible to develop a friendship with someone if you don't know anything substantial about them. In order to build rapport between members of your executive team, it may be wise to set aside a little time at the beginning of each meeting to strengthen the human connections that all of you have formed with one another.

Consider including an "icebreaker" question or two, like: "What's one thing you're excited about this week?" or "Could you share a recent development in your personal or professional life that's really made you happy?"

2. Metrics/KPIs

For many business meetings, the bulk of the allotted time is spent on tracking progress in relation to key performance indicators (KPIs), and determining whether adjustments need to be implemented. If your company is on track with certain KPIs, you won't have to spend much time on them. However, if the data indicates that you're behind schedule, or performing below expectations in relation to a specific key metric, it's time to drill down into the details and identify the root of the problem.

As you discuss these metrics, don't spend all of your time focusing on areas of opportunity. Be share to recognize individual, team, and company-wide wins, and take some time to discuss key insights that can be gleaned from those victories.

3. Action items

The effectiveness of any meeting is ultimately determined by the tangible results it yields. If you want your executive staff meeting to be successful, then it's absolutely essential to clearly define your action items for the upcoming weeks and months, and assign ownership of each task to a member of the executive team.

For example, you may need to discuss what message to share with the rest of the company. Don't just leave it at discussion! After your team has decided on what the core of the message should be, assign one of your team members to create a draft for board approval, and provide a timeline for completion of this task (e.g., the draft is complete within 2 weeks, the board approves the final version within 4 weeks, and it is distributed throughout the organization within 6 weeks).

4. Feedback

No single person in an organization has all the answers, and it's always helpful to receive constructive feedback from your team. Encourage your executives to freely voice their concerns, ideas, and suggestions. (In fact, the feedback you receive may be a helpful starting point when compiling the agenda for your next executive staff meeting!) At the same time, you may want to set aside specific times on the meeting agenda for feedback, so that the meeting flow as a whole doesn't get disrupted.

Important tips for your next executive staff meeting

• Strive to create an environment where everyone is free to voice their opinion and ask the hard questions
• Give your executive team plenty of advance notice if pre-work needs to be done (for instance, an agenda point requires research before discussion)
• Share as much context before the meeting as you can
• Reduce the amount of "catching up" that team members have to do during the meeting
• Emphasize that the meeting's focus is on finding solutions, not scapegoats
• Champion change when necessary, but not "change for the sake of change"
• Keep key business objectives at the forefront of the discussion
• Never forget that your executives are also human beings, and need to be respected and dignified as such

We are convinced that productive meetings are well-planned meetings! And for your next executive staff meeting, the key to unlocking even greater productivity may be the use of a meeting agenda template. Be sure to check out our 80+ templates today, so that you can spend less time prepping for meetings, and more time making the right decisions for your organization.