Effective Staff Meetings

Staff meetings are critical to ensuring the success of quality early childhood programs that have multiple staff members. Effective staff meetings allow your team to support one another, share information, and communicate ideas. In addition, staff meetings can provide the opportunity to receive necessary training and discuss how children are responding to the program.  A few key components of effective staff meetings include:

Schedule:

Finding a suitable time and space for staff meetings is the first step.  By having regular meetings held throughout the year and a meeting schedule planned, you can establish routines, allow staff to be prepared, avoid scheduling conflicts, and convey your program’s expectations.

Sign-in Sheet:

A sign-in sheet provides accountability for meeting attendance and allows you to disseminate information to appropriate people following the meeting.

Agenda:

Agendas allow you to create a record of the topics discussed for future reference and support good business practice. Agendas also provide staff with a list of topics to be discussed during your staff meetings.  It may be helpful to include how long the group has to discuss each agenda item to keep staff focused and keep the meeting moving in an efficient manner.  You may also want to incorporate opportunities for staff to provide input to the agenda and time in the agenda for staff to work together and share ideas.

A few agenda topics you may want to consider for the beginning of a new school year include:

• Performance review schedules and why they are conducted
• Specific child needs and how to help children adjust to the program
• New updates to your program handbook/policy book and signatures from staff
• Your Program Improvement Plan for the year, and the role of staff
• Lesson planning process, curriculum and questions staff may have

Effective staff meetings can create a productive learning environment for your team members.   While it’s important to share information at staff meetings, allowing time for staff to learn from one another and share ideas will convey the importance and respect you place on their time, growth, and professional knowledge.