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The all hands meeting concept comes from the old adage “all hands on deck”.
All hands meetings are great for clarity and community building in a team, but they’re not a solution to every problem. For digital teams, they can be especially tricky with conflicting schedules and timezones. And not every topic of discussion is interesting enough to keep everyone engaged.
Luckily, technology in the digital age makes teams malleable, adaptable, and creative. So, there are ways to hold effective all hands meetings – even for digital teams.
What is an all hands meeting?
All hands meetings are company-wide meetings where everyone in the company attends. They are similar to forums or town halls.
An all hands meeting provides a great opportunity to communicate important information to the entire team at one go.
During all hands meetings, the team may:
- Celebrate company wins or milestones
- Present a company overview around finances and operations
- Share important updates
- Discuss company vision/mission
- Align company strategy around mission
- Hold a Q&A session
What is the impact of an all hands meeting?
All hands meetings provide a golden opportunity to share important information because everyone in the team is present.
However, sharing vital information is just the tip of the iceberg. All hands meetings have a lot of great byproducts like:
Energy. When done right, the all hands meeting is a very energetic experience that gives people motivation to accomplish objectives.
Clarity. Many leaders review their core objectives during an all hands meeting. This can be a time to make sure everyone understands the ‘why’ of the company.
Community building. An all hands meeting might be the only time that everyone from the organization is in the same place. It can foster a greater sense of bonding and team chemistry.
Trust. If all hands meetings are transparent and genuine, they are a great place to demonstrate that you aren’t hiding details and take action on serious matters.
When is the right time to call an all hands meeting?
There are two kinds of all hands meetings. The first is the recurring one that might happen weekly, monthly, or annually. The purpose of this meeting is usually to share updates, celebrate the culture, and communicate important information.
The second type is the situational all hands meeting. This one happens because there’s a specific agenda. It might be to communicate:
- Organisational restructuring
- Company acquisition
- Policy change
- Celebration of important milestones
- Forecasting
- Strategy alignment
- Financial updates
- Company expansion
Rethinking the digital all hands meeting
An all hands meeting is the most expensive thing you can do. Everyone at the company is expected to stop and attend. That is lost time for focus work and the time it takes to shift to a new work mode.
A digital all hands meeting feels cheaper because it happens on a video call, but the result is the same. If the meeting is not planned well, people will be disengaged, which means you’ll have to recommunicate important information later, and they lost productivity time.
All hands meetings are often one way communication, and we are all pretty sick of staring at our screens and pretending to listen to someone drone on while we do our best to stop opening up new tabs in the background.
To take full advantage of the all hands meeting, you need to step back and ask why. What’s the point of the meeting, and is there another asynchronous way you could communicate it?
Podcasts. Sharing news in audio format allows people to ingest it on their own time and while doing something else like driving, working out, or working outside.
Livestream. A livestream conversation with a few people lets those who want to interact live put in comments, but is also easy to record and share later on.
Channel post. Some announcements are quick and simple and can be shared in an internal forum.
Breakout rooms. Do you want to offer people the chance to process with each other about important information during the meeting?
Two reminders from podcast guests.
Lindsay Tjepkema suggests sharing important information in multiple media to create a better chance for people to take it in.
Nancy Duarte says you need to match the medium with the message. What do people need to experience? Do they just need the facts? Or is a little extra fidelity of tone of voice and body language going to serve them better?
How do you make digital all hands meeting impactful?
All hands meetings are like other digital meetings. And you should be familiar with the challenges.
Here are some tips to make the all hands meeting seamless, dynamic, and engaging for the entire team:
- If you are planning a hybrid meeting, make sure the meeting room is well equipped with cameras and microphones.
- Create a timetable and ground rules for the meeting – factoring time for catch up sessions, ice-breakers, breaks, and a Q&A segment.
- Get the team involved in the preparation process.
- Invite someone energetic and inspirational to host the event
- Run a poll after the meeting to get feedback and optimize for next time
Let’s talk about scale
All hands meetings look pretty different for a company of 20 people versus over 1,000. What needs to change as you get bigger?
Schedule well in advance
The larger the team, the more time you need to prepare and get schedules in order. If you plan to host all hands meetings in person, give more than a month in advance to travel arrangements can be made.
Have a preparation meeting beforehand
At companies like Envoy, the tech team meets before a company wide forum and plans for all the meeting requirements. Prep meetings are a good opportunity to secure a venue and iron out all the fine details, like the event schedule and who will moderate the event.
Distribute the schedule before the event
When a few thousand people show up to a Zoom meeting, things might get a bit scattered. Distributing the meeting schedule in advance keeps the event on track, and let’s employees know what to expect.
Rehearse
We all had a lot of grace with each other when we were first figuring out this stuff. But after more than a year into it, “How do I share my screen?” is akin to “How do I check my email?”. Make sure all of your tech is working fine and people have the right permissions to share.
All hands meetings are great for rallying the team around achievements that uplift everybody and build community. But, they’re not necessary for every problem or bit of news concerning the company. It’s important to have them when necessary and if they create impact within the team.
The all hands meeting concept comes from the old adage “all hands on deck”.
All hands meetings are great for clarity and community building in a team, but they’re not a solution to every problem. For digital teams, they can be especially tricky with conflicting schedules and timezones. And not every topic of discussion is interesting enough to keep everyone engaged.
Luckily, technology in the digital age makes teams malleable, adaptable, and creative. So, there are ways to hold effective all hands meetings – even for digital teams.
What is an all hands meeting?
All hands meetings are company-wide meetings where everyone in the company attends. They are similar to forums or town halls.
An all hands meeting provides a great opportunity to communicate important information to the entire team at one go.
During all hands meetings, the team may:
- Celebrate company wins or milestones
- Present a company overview around finances and operations
- Share important updates
- Discuss company vision/mission
- Align company strategy around mission
- Hold a Q&A session
What is the impact of an all hands meeting?
All hands meetings provide a golden opportunity to share important information because everyone in the team is present.
However, sharing vital information is just the tip of the iceberg. All hands meetings have a lot of great byproducts like:
Energy. When done right, the all hands meeting is a very energetic experience that gives people motivation to accomplish objectives.
Clarity. Many leaders review their core objectives during an all hands meeting. This can be a time to make sure everyone understands the ‘why’ of the company.
Community building. An all hands meeting might be the only time that everyone from the organization is in the same place. It can foster a greater sense of bonding and team chemistry.
Trust. If all hands meetings are transparent and genuine, they are a great place to demonstrate that you aren’t hiding details and take action on serious matters.
When is the right time to call an all hands meeting?
There are two kinds of all hands meetings. The first is the recurring one that might happen weekly, monthly, or annually. The purpose of this meeting is usually to share updates, celebrate the culture, and communicate important information.
The second type is the situational all hands meeting. This one happens because there’s a specific agenda. It might be to communicate:
- Organisational restructuring
- Company acquisition
- Policy change
- Celebration of important milestones
- Forecasting
- Strategy alignment
- Financial updates
- Company expansion
Rethinking the digital all hands meeting
An all hands meeting is the most expensive thing you can do. Everyone at the company is expected to stop and attend. That is lost time for focus work and the time it takes to shift to a new work mode.
A digital all hands meeting feels cheaper because it happens on a video call, but the result is the same. If the meeting is not planned well, people will be disengaged, which means you’ll have to recommunicate important information later, and they lost productivity time.
All hands meetings are often one way communication, and we are all pretty sick of staring at our screens and pretending to listen to someone drone on while we do our best to stop opening up new tabs in the background.
To take full advantage of the all hands meeting, you need to step back and ask why. What’s the point of the meeting, and is there another asynchronous way you could communicate it?
Podcasts. Sharing news in audio format allows people to ingest it on their own time and while doing something else like driving, working out, or working outside.
Livestream. A livestream conversation with a few people lets those who want to interact live put in comments, but is also easy to record and share later on.
Channel post. Some announcements are quick and simple and can be shared in an internal forum.
Breakout rooms. Do you want to offer people the chance to process with each other about important information during the meeting?
Two reminders from podcast guests.
Lindsay Tjepkema suggests sharing important information in multiple media to create a better chance for people to take it in.
Nancy Duarte says you need to match the medium with the message. What do people need to experience? Do they just need the facts? Or is a little extra fidelity of tone of voice and body language going to serve them better?
How do you make digital all hands meeting impactful?
All hands meetings are like other digital meetings. And you should be familiar with the challenges.
Here are some tips to make the all hands meeting seamless, dynamic, and engaging for the entire team:
- If you are planning a hybrid meeting, make sure the meeting room is well equipped with cameras and microphones.
- Create a timetable and ground rules for the meeting – factoring time for catch up sessions, ice-breakers, breaks, and a Q&A segment.
- Get the team involved in the preparation process.
- Invite someone energetic and inspirational to host the event
- Run a poll after the meeting to get feedback and optimize for next time
Let’s talk about scale
All hands meetings look pretty different for a company of 20 people versus over 1,000. What needs to change as you get bigger?
Schedule well in advance
The larger the team, the more time you need to prepare and get schedules in order. If you plan to host all hands meetings in person, give more than a month in advance to travel arrangements can be made.
Have a preparation meeting beforehand
At companies like Envoy, the tech team meets before a company wide forum and plans for all the meeting requirements. Prep meetings are a good opportunity to secure a venue and iron out all the fine details, like the event schedule and who will moderate the event.
Distribute the schedule before the event
When a few thousand people show up to a Zoom meeting, things might get a bit scattered. Distributing the meeting schedule in advance keeps the event on track, and let’s employees know what to expect.
Rehearse
We all had a lot of grace with each other when we were first figuring out this stuff. But after more than a year into it, “How do I share my screen?” is akin to “How do I check my email?”. Make sure all of your tech is working fine and people have the right permissions to share.
All hands meetings are great for rallying the team around achievements that uplift everybody and build community. But, they’re not necessary for every problem or bit of news concerning the company. It’s important to have them when necessary and if they create impact within the team.
