Think about the last team meeting you ran.
How much of it was you talking? How much of it could the team have read in an email?
For a long time my meetings were mostly me reading the sales report aloud. The reps were polite. They were also waiting for lunch.
The structure I use now is simple.
Send the agenda early. Three topics, two days before. Reps who know the topics come ready to speak.
Start with the field. Two reps share one win and one lesson from the month. The team learns from each other before they hear from me.
Keep the numbers short. The report has already gone out. We discuss only what needs a decision.
One topic in depth. One skill or one problem, worked on in small groups. This is the part that matters most, because everyone speaks, not only the confident few.
End with owners, on time. Every action has a name and a date. And the meeting finishes when I said it would. That is a small promise, and the team notices when it is kept.
“If it could have been an email, do not make them sit through it.”
Lesson 12 of 19 in Step 5: Motivating and building the team, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.