by Meghan O'Dea - copywriter/editor for Woople LLC. and PCWWE

Here in Wildwood, we’ve started having a morning meeting for the Production team, so we can start the day on the same page and share what we accomplished the day before.   It has been a great way to feel more like a team and start everyday with good communication.  When we begin by seeing how our individual projects dovetail together toward larger goals, it is easier to stay on track the rest of the day.

We aren’t the only ones who think a morning meeting can be incredibly beneficial.  For decades, experts have touted the morning meeting as a solution to any number of inefficiencies or communication failures that run the workplace amuck.  In 1919, the Spectator (a popular British magazine still in print after its first run in 1828) included an article on the importance of morning meetings, which explained, “A Monday morning meeting is a good thing—to be regularly held at an hour not later than nine o’clock.  If this meeting does nothing else, it will get the solicitor, or agent on the job, at a definite hour in the morning.”

More recently, business experts continue to hold enthusiasm for morning meetings and for conducting studies to understand how they can be even more beneficial to managers and employees.  The Harvard Business School wrote, in 2006, that meetings should include the opportunity for everyone in attendance to “put anything on the table for discussion” that would then see an implementation plan developed.  The idea is that, in addition to generating valuable ideas, the opportunity to contribute would make meeting attendance a privilege and give employees a sense of ownership over the meeting process.   The HBS also noted that excuses to not have meetings often stem from the idea that employees and managers are “too busy” which is often less true than a matter of “being ‘too busy’ is a way of feeling valuable.”  Morning meetings can replace a false estimation of value with a real one defined by contribution.

Researchers for Monster.com, in an excellent position to observe workplace trends, have also noted that after ScanDigital, a major photo archival company, implemented morning meetings, employees were able to “connect the dots between their own jobs and the company’s performance.”  As a result, the company began to “see better results across the board…” as well as gain “better insight into what…employees needed to serve customers better and make work processes more efficient.”

With so many benefits to spending a little time together each day as a team, we are glad we’ve started utilizing morning meetings here in Wildwood and are already reaping the benefits.  If you would like to boost your company efficiency and strengthen your team, why not try implementing this simple process at your office? 

“Civic Duties of the Life Insurance Agent.” The Spectator vol. 102-103, (1919): 166-167. Google Books digitization

“The Morning Meeting: Best Practice Communication for Executive Teams.” Harvard Management Communication Letter vol. 3, no. 2 (Spring 2006) http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5388.html

Fenn, Donna. “Make Hourly Workers Your Best Secret Weapon.” Monster.com http://hiring.monster.com/hr/hr-best-practices/workforce-management/hr-management-skills/increasing-hourly-worker-performance.aspx