Meetings are essential for the efficient flow of information and communication in every organisation. And different types of meetings are held to aid organizations in achieving their objectives. The town hall meeting is one of these meetings.
Key Takeaways
- Townhall meetings are regularly held in organizations to bridge the communication gap between management and employees, get every member of the organization informed about organizational plans and updates, and inspire teamwork and collaboration amongst employees.
- Hybrid and remote working styles in recent times have shifted physical meetings online. As such, to hold successful virtual meetings, learning how to make meetings engaging and knowing your way around the technological tools is an essential skill to hone.
- Other types of meetings that are organised in organisations include strategy and planning meetings, the daily huddle and managers’ meetings.
What is a Town Hall Meeting?
A town hall meeting is also known as an “all-hands-on meeting”. As the name implies, it is a meeting attended by everyone in an organization, regardless of their level or hierarchy in the organization.
Town Hall meetings originated from meetings held by politicians and legislators in local town halls or other designated venues such as the library and sports centers.
In organizations, these types of meetings are often hosted by senior-level personnel. It typically provides an avenue for a company’s management to connect with their employees.
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What Is the Point of a Town Hall Meeting?
- Town hall meetings make it possible to have all employees seated and receive updates about the organisation at the same time. In other words, information is shared first-hand with employees. Misinformation is costly for every organisation. Providing information first-hand curbs the spread of misinformation.
- Again, management is also able to receive feedback about their processes directly from their team. Ordinarily, if feedback is passed from one level of management to another, it is often distorted and may not convey the initial response or feedback given by team members.
- Employees may hardly get the opportunity to converse with the organization’s CEO and other members of the top management. These meetings help to close that communication gap, especially during the Q and A sessions. As a result, employees will feel valued, engaged, and a part of the decision-making process.
- Having town hall meetings allows employees to mingle with one another. Through the sharing of ideas, the expression of opinions and contributions, connections and collaboration amongst employees are enhanced and strengthened.
- These meetings are a way to remind employees of how their deliverables should align with the company’s overall goals. It is also a great way to reinforce an organization’s mission and objectives.
What To Include In The Town Hall Meeting Agenda?
A well-organized town hall meeting has an impact on overall engagement. As such, the agenda forms the basis upon which a successful town hall meeting will be executed. Typically, every town hall meeting will have the following basic items on its agenda:
- The town hall agenda starts with the opening remarks by the CEO or a member of the upper management level.
- Department managers and team leaders share information and updates.
- Polls and Surveys.
- The floor is open for questions and answers.
How to Run a Successful Town Hall Virtual Meeting
As workplaces go hybrid or completely remote, virtual town hall meetings are being held instead of physical town hall meetings in order to connect and bring together employees working remotely. Virtual meetings save employees the stress of travelling to a physical location and save event organizers the cost and stress of scheduling conferences or board rooms for the event. Below are some useful tips you can implement to run a successful virtual town hall meeting.
- Creating an agenda sets the tone for the meeting. It gives the meeting a clear purpose and direction. Also, it provides participants with insight into what will be discussed and helps them prepare their ideas to make effective contributions.
- Knowing your way around video conferencing tools and features will count hugely toward making your virtual meeting a success.
- You don’t want to run into technical problems right before you kick off or midway into your meeting. To ensure that you are good to go, test your technology beforehand. Check-in with participants to see if they know how to use the chat function, mute themselves, and share screens. Also, check the audio and video quality to see if it is good enough to proceed.
- It is important to make virtual meetings interactive and engaging by using polls to get instant feedback, encouraging comments in the chatbox, and using surveys and Q & A sessions.
Examples of Virtual Meetings
Digital Summit at SBC
SBC is a news, media, and events company operating in the betting and gaming industry. The event’s focused on networking and knowledge sharing.
Adobe Digital Conference Experience
With 100,000 registrants and a global audience of 450,000, this was Adobe’s first online conference, held in 2020.
Google SheetsCon
It was the first online event devoted exclusively to Google Sheets users, with in-depth training from industry experts and professionals.
What Other Types of Meetings Should be Held at Your Company?
While town hall meetings are held to close communication gaps between employees and top management and align employees with the company’s goals, there are other types of meetings which are also essential in every organisation.
The Daily Huddle: These are short meetings (15 minutes max) that must happen every day. They are meant to help employees align with goals that need to be achieved.
Managers’ Meeting: These are meetings that happen weekly involving the organisation leaders. Tactical and operational issues as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) are some of the things that are discussed in these types of meetings.
Planning and Strategy Meetings: These types of meetings are targeted toward setting strategies for the actualisation of a company’s goals and objectives. They involve a lot of brainstorming sessions and planning.
Town hall meetings create an avenue for employees to meet with management, reinforce organisational goals and objectives, hear employees’ feedback, and strengthen team connections and effectiveness. You can further improve your skills at organising effective town hall meetings here.
