Should You Host Weekly Team Meetings For Product Launches?

We all know that team meetings have their time and place in your business. On one end, you want to connect with your team and discuss important topics. On the other, studies suggest meetings may not be the best use of your time according to sources like Harvard Business Review.

While you don’t want to have too many unproductive meetings that waste time, having the right kind of meetings can really help your business.

When you’re launching a new product or service, regular meetings can come in handy. Launching something new is always a ton of work. If you have a team, make use of this and host weekly team meetings for your product launch to stay on track.

Still on the fence about investing the time and energy into hosting weekly team meetings. Here are some reasons why you should consider it for product launches.

Meetings Can Be Short

Team meetings don’t have to take up a huge chunk out of your workday. You can meet for as little as 20-30 minutes and still get a lot accomplished. Since you’ll be hosting weekly team meetings during your launch season, you will likely be able to get away with shorter meetings.

Dedicate each meeting to a specific topic or task that’s on the calendar. That way, you have a clear focus for the day and don’t feel overwhelmed or disorganized during the meeting. If you just stick to the topic at hand, the meeting shouldn’t run too long at all. In fact, you should have more clarity afterward.

Opportunity to Brainstorm

Weekly team meetings give you a unique opportunity to brainstorm and hone in on your good ideas quickly. This is important during a product launch since there will be tons of ideas going around. While some meetings can be replaced with an email, it’s best that brainstorming sessions are held via team meetings.

Can you imagine how exhausting you would feel going back and forth with team members via email about your ideas and processes for a launch? Not to mention, waiting around for someone to reply or having certain ideas read out of context? Some conversations are best held in a meeting so you can narrow down your ideas and game plan more efficiently.

Extra Accountability When You Host Weekly Team Meetings

Another reason why you should have weekly team meetings for product launches in your business if for added accountability. When I’ve launched things in the past, it was helpful to have meetings with my virtual assistant to help me stay on track.

There’s just something about knowing that you have an upcoming meeting and will need to report your progress. Having this ‘deadline‘ in a sense can help you stay motivated and accountable for your role in everything.

There are many times where life happens or you procrastinate on something and miss a deadline. With a launch of a new product or service, so much work is involved so it’s easy to fall off track. However, weekly team meetings can actually help you get things done quickly since you’ll be making progress each week and getting closer to your goal.

Ensure the Team is Aligned

Everyone should have a clear role in the launch process. Team meetings can help smooth things out and make sure everyone is on the same page in terms of what they’re supposed to do.

It also serves as a direct line of communication for team members who have to work together to complete a specific task for the launch. For example, one person may specialize in doing graphics while another person writes marketing copy. To ensure that one person is not waiting on another for a task to be complete, weekly team meetings can be a great opportunity to communicate about what’s due and also answer any questions.

Boost Motivation

Have you ever felt super motivated after a team meeting? That’s no coincidence. While some team meetings may leave you feeling drained and behind in your day, strategic meetings will help everyone feel motivated and productive.

Realize that your team needs to feel motivated too. Keeping them updating on the product launch and all the latest news and developments is a great way to do this. It helps everyone feel like they’re on the same team and working toward something exciting. Having a motivated team that is dedicated to your launch and up-to-speed on every update will lead to more getting accomplished overall.

Tips For Having Effective Team Meetings

Now that you know why it’s important to hot weekly team meetings for product launches, here are some key tips to help you get set up for success.

• Be consistent and get it on the calendar in advance – Choose one day and time that works for everyone and hold your team meeting on the same day each week. Keep it consistent so people know when to be ready and what to expect.
• Make sure everyone is prepared – send out a meeting agenda in advance and urge team members to have a quiet space, reliable internet connection, earbuds, etc.
• Discuss action items and provide status updates – Follow your meeting agenda closely by discussing current action items to take and going over progress for previous actions items that were discussed before. This helps keep everyone on track and avoid wasting time on distractions.
• Leave room for questions – Never end a team meeting without opening up the floor for a few questions. It’s important to make sure that everyone is on the same page and understand what the goals are. Answering quick questions during the meeting can cut down on future emails and having to explain something without a visual. With video meetings, you can often share your screen to show how something works.

Weekly team meetings for product launches are often a great idea so long as you plan ahead and stay on topic. Keep these tips in mind when you’re thinking of your next product launch and how you’ll get organized and streaming the process.