On most days we communicate by Skype. We video conference each other to ask questions, brainstorm ideas, review upcoming opportunities, and discuss existing projects. As a virtual company, this tool gives us the face time that allows us to feel like we’re all together in the same room. It’s invaluable to our culture and our productivity.
Once a month, we gather the entire corporate WriterGirl team and meet in person. Most of the time, this is at our CEO’s (Christy Pretzinger) house. Christy ensures that there are healthy snacks and drinks for everybody, a thoughtful agenda to follow, and a comfy and productive place to power up and engage without distractions.
Healthy snacks are always on hand during meetings.
I joined WriterGirl about 15 months ago and here’s a sneak peak into what I believe to be the real magic of these meetings…
- Connecting – First and foremost, these meetings are about connecting with one another. We take culture seriously at WriterGirl and it’s not uncommon for our meetings to start with a team builder, a celebration or an inspiring story. Getting personal is expected and accepted. Taking an emergency phone call from your child during the meeting? That’s OK too.
During this team builder, we created a balloon sculpture of WriterGirl.
- Learning – We always make time on our agenda for exercises and discussion aimed at personal/professional development. Right now we are reading Rising Strong by Brené During this month’s meeting we watched a video, talked about what are getting out of the book and how we will apply the learning in our daily lives.
Our current book club: Rising Strong by Brene Brown.
- Encouraging – And, we talk business. Christy validates vision and strategy. Our sales team shares sales performance and what’s on the horizon. Our operations team spotlights particular projects, provides updates on key resources, and passes along client feedback. At the core of these business updates is a sense of encouragement. We are a team. We are in this together. We have each other’s backs. We are each other’s biggest cheerleaders.
WriterGirls, Reba and Colleen, sharing updates with the rest of the team.
If you have passionate people that are passionate about doing their best work, my guess is that our team meetings are no different than yours. There’s no “death by meeting” over here. And for that, I’m a grateful WriterGirl employee.
