INSIGHTs & INTUITION

What are some things your company does to make sure employee meetings, including those done virtually, are productive and time efficient?

Mike Delfs President and CEO Jamestown Regional Medical Center Jamestown, N.D.

Whether before this pandemic or during, we begin and end meetings on time. We arrive prepared – our leaders check their calendars before the upcoming week to prepare for what is to come. It’s rare that a team would show up to a meeting and say “what are we talking about?” We set meeting agendas and share the why behind scheduling. In addition to time efficiency, we keep meetings productive by creating a culture of psychological safety. If employees can’t feel safe sharing ideas –even the bad ones – our creativity and innovation suffer. If those suffer, so does the organization. Our culture is one of trust and appropriate risk taking. Because of that, we are grateful to say we are both a Top 20 Critical Access Hospital in the country and a Top 100 Best Places to Work in the nation.

In efforts to work swiftly, communicate effectively and to be clear and concise on roles and goals, Choice Bank has worked intentionally and carefully to set up our committee and meeting structure. This structure provides a framework for the movement of information whether that be up, down or sideways. Each participant has defined roles in which they can bring their unique contributions, and our cultural norms set the stage for open and honest communication allowing all voices in the room to be heard. This structure allows team members at all levels within the organization to contribute without being restricted by traditional layers and hierarchy. It has allowed us to bring to the forefront what matters most, instead of being limited to the old agenda and minute format of the past.