The weekly work meeting is your weekly check-in to make sure that everyone is on track to complete their upcoming scheduled work. It is an opportunity for everyone to hear from all team members and obtain their commitments for completing next week’s work. A successful meeting will result in a smooth and steady work flow. Only tasks without any known constraints are included in the Weekly Work Plan. The goal is to explore the links between tasks and prevent team members from overcommitting. Here are some common mistakes to avoid.

Failure to have 100% attendance

All project members MUST be present at your Weekly Work Planning Meeting. Without full participation, you won’t have complete team buy-in and people will not be able to make commitments that aren’t subject to what absent team members may or may not do. Weekly work planning requires input from everyone.

Ignoring Feedback

All issues are project-wide issues. If one team member is talking about problems with their work schedule, that affects everyone’s work schedule. Pay attention to what meeting attendees are telling you. Do not make the mistake of treating any information as “not my problem.” Feedback is necessary to keep your project on track.

Not asking enough questions

Engage with team members that are unable to complete their scheduled work. Ask them a series of questions to get to the root of the problem. Figuring out what caused a problem is the first step in preventing it from reoccurring in the future.

Accepting a bad promise

Work promises start with the words “yes, I will/can,” or “no, I cannot.” Do not accept statements that begin with “I’ll try” or “Maybe.” Obtain firm commitments from all of team members on the scope of work and the date of completion. Everyone’s commitments depend on it.