Our school leadership team, grades Preschool-12 and leaders of our operations departments, has made a commitment to each other this year to collectively grow in our effectiveness as a team. One strategy that we have recently implemented is a daily stand-up meeting, or as we call it, “The “Convo”. After all, our school mascot is the Eagle and a group of eagles is a convocation.
“The Convo” is modeled after advice and ideas from leadership expert Patrick Lencioni in his book Death by Meeting. Some of the characteristics and ground rules of “The Convo” include the following:
- Our purpose is information sharing: e.g., items that others need to know, our priorities for the day, and comparing schedules.
- We meet for 15 minutes, no more, 4 days a week.
- We meet at a different location on campus each of the 4 days.
- We stand in a circle where we can all see and hear each other easily.
- We have selected a facilitator to keep us on time and on topic. Our facilitator rotates on a monthly basis.
- The facilitator starts and then we go around the circle. Each person has the opportunity to share or to pass.
- Clarifying questions and comments from colleagues are accepted.
- If the group starts to work a problem, the facilitator intervenes and either
recommends the topic for a group tactical or strategic meeting or for the involved parties to schedule a work session at another time. - Team members who will be absent notify the facilitator. We hold “The Convo” as scheduled, even when some team members are absent.
We are only a couple weeks in to “The Convo”, so we will adapt our processes to make sure they are working for us. Even with only a few sessions under our belts, we are seeing benefits:
- Informational items that used to take precious time in other leadership meetings are already taken care of, allowing for
deeper conversation on important strategic topics for our school. - We see each other on an (almost) daily basis which is a big plus given the layout of our campus. Leadership can be lonely, but with “The Convo” we get to connect with and support each other.
- Our teachers, students, parents, and community see us working together as a team on a regular basis.
- Our communication with our teachers, students, parents, and community is becoming more and more consistent.
- We feel connected, accomplished, and inspired as we go about our day.