Meeting Culture as a Catalyst for Growth and Success

Working within a fast-paced, dynamic environment is exciting but can also feel overwhelming.  

We get it. Change is constant as new demands are being placed on you and your team, and flexibility and adaptability are not just the norm, they are essential.  

At Kairos, we spend a lot of time talking to operational leaders within growing and scaling companies, and what we hear consistently is that the pace of business is relentless. Maybe technology is partially responsible but so are people – from clients to our bosses, more is expected and expected now. This article explores the unique characteristics of companies at a critical point in their business growth grow and scale, and how leaders within them can inspire change while also ensuring stability and performance throughout it all.

Growth vs. Scale – What’s the Difference?

The terms ‘growth’ and ‘scale’ are often used interchangeably but they mean different things.  

Growth means literally getting bigger in size and scope. Your organization could be adding new team members, entering a merger or acquisition phase, or launching new products or services.

Scale focuses on optimizing efficiency. It’s all about ensuring an agile mindset to grow and adapt to changing demands quickly.

Think of growth as adding resources and scaling as improving efficiency within a company. Additional detail on key differences can be found here.  As a team leader within a growing or scaling company, there are ways to build a robust organizational culture and leverage tools to ensure smooth transitions during these periods.

When More is Actually a Problem

On the surface, more headcount, investment, or clients are a good thing. However, a sudden increase in any of these could lead to a variety of problems without adequate planning, processes, or management. As a leader, how do you ensure your team not only supports organizational priorities but can also exceed expectation? Active collaboration. But more on that later.

How Meeting Culture Drives Growth for Mid-sized Businesses

It used to be that business was business and a universal formula applied – grow your customers, reduce costs, and improve profitability. But the nature of businesses is changing and the rules for growth have also evolved. According to a McKinsey 2023 report, there are 10 rules businesses should follow to achieve profitable growth. These include prioritizing competitive advantage, outgrowing your peers, and pursuing global expansion after succeeding in local markets first. Not surprisingly, the authors also noted that the more rules followed, the stronger the growth rate achieved. Cue the ‘sum is greater than its parts’ analogy.

But how does a business leader quickly align stakeholders and teams so they can optimize productivity and achieve key priorities? By tapping into the hidden potential of meetings as the primary source of active collaboration. Leading the way in building a positive meeting culture empowers you to create a distinct competitive advantage for your organization.  

Meetings as a Way to Differentiate you from the Competition

Sometimes meetings have a bad rap. We can all think of examples where we walked out of a meeting, regretted our attendance and wished we could reclaim the time spent in said meeting. Yet, in a 2024 State of Meetings report by Calendly, 81% of leaders surveyed said that meetings help them at work and would consider them an essential tool for collaboration and productivity.  

So if meetings themselves are not the problem, what is?

Effective Meetings Promote Active Collaboration

Companies in the growth and scale stages of business have complex needs. There are a lot of moving parts as we balance team dynamics, operational coordination, and decision making. In these environments. Meetings become increasingly important as an active collaboration tool, when effectively planned and executed. They are a lifeline for value alignment, productivity, and decision making, and support creativity and innovation.

Operational Leaders, We Hear You!

We know that employees generally spend between 20% and 60% of their time in meetings, and during periods of rapid change such as growth and scale, this number may be higher. Yet shockingly, 75% of managers report never having received meeting training. No wonder meetings are despised by so many.

As a leader who understands positive meeting culture, you know how to leverage meetings to achieve specific goals. For example:  

• Team growth - as the number of internal stakeholders increase, meetings can be used to ensure that new strategies and priorities are shared, understood, and supported.
• Mergers and acquisitions - during a time of business expansion, meetings can be used to create space to integrate business cultures, align strategies, and build trust.
• New Hires - given the importance of onboarding, meetings are a quick way to integrate new team members and bring them up to speed on the culture, processes, and priorities within an organization.

Do you Really Need that Meeting?

Unsure if a meeting is necessary? Leading meeting expert and organizational psychologist Dr. Steven Rogelberg has spent his career researching meetings and concludes that effective meetings are inclusive, engaging, and efficient. His advice is to always ask two key questions before sending any meeting invite:

1. Does the meeting have a compelling purpose?
2. Is active collaboration necessary?

If the answer to either question is no, consider a meeting alternative.

Meeting Tactics to Facilitate Team Effectiveness  

As leaders, your job is to produce results by empowering others to perform their best. In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers looked at important considerations related to meeting effectiveness in modern hybrid work environments. They found:

• Inclusivity and participation are critical for productivity. Supporting open communication improves participant engagement and enhances collaboration and decision-making.
• Effective meetings include structure, clear objectives, and limit attendees to 10 participants.
• Time is of the essence. Respect meeting times and avoid extending a meeting past its stated duration.
• Ensure the use of reliable technology because poor video and audio quality can negatively impact attendee engagement and effectiveness.
• Encourage sharing of speaker time. No one wants to hear the same person drone on and on.
• Share an agenda in advance and don’t deviate from it, avoiding surprise topics and attempts to derail from the focus of the meeting.

While this study revealed several important considerations, there are others that managers should also familiarize themselves with as they level up the meeting game within their organization. For example, context switching, inclusivity, and fostering connection are additional factors that can enhance meeting effectiveness.

A Final Word

To borrow from the great Mahatma Gandhi, ‘Be the change you wish to see.’ It’s one thing to focus on others and work hard to empower your team and peers; however, leaders also need an internal lens. Try to consistently model the behaviours you want your direct reports and others to emulate.

To learn more about the state of meeting culture at your organization, book a demo. We will show you how to gain actionable insights and access coaching to optimize results so you can grow and scale efficiently.