Running An Effective, High-Impact Leaders Meeting

Leaders are busy people! Between work or school, family, and ministry, there are many competing demands for their time. Especially if they are a high capacity leader, chances are, they are leading in more than one aspect of their life.

When we ask leaders for their time, we need to make sure we honour their time, and use it in a manner that is high-impact and worthwhile. Here are some simple tips to running an effective Leaders Meeting, and below you’ll find the format that we use.

Always Start On Time

All the time. Every time. Regardless of how many people are (or aren’t) in the room, start on time. This is a way of honouring those who are on time, and teaching the value of time to those who aren’t.

Fun Tip: Set your meeting to start at an odd time (eg. 7:23PM). Studies say it makes people more punctual if you adhere to it.

Create Value

We’ve all sat through meetings where we thought to ourselves “I could have done something better with my time”. Leaders want to feel like their time was well spent, so as leaders of leaders we work hard to make the meeting valuable.

One good way to evaluate this is to ask ourselves the question: What am I putting in their hands today that will help them? It could be encouragement, a fresh encounter with God, strategy, resources, practical tools, tips to connect with their family better, or a solution for a problem they’re dealing with! Pro Tip: Ask yourself the question, what are my leaders taking back with them today that will help them?

Prepare Like Crazy

To be an effective leader of leaders, we don’t have to be the smartest person in the room, or the most creative, or the most charismatic. We simply need to be the most prepared.

Don’t just prepare what we’re saying, figure out how we’re saying it. Prepare examples, prepare illustrations, prepare testimonies, prepare transitions between segments, prepare questions to ask. Prepare prepare prepare!

Pro Tip: Have your meeting flow written out a few days before the actual meeting so you can add content to it whenever something comes to mind.

Set A Clear And Consistent Expectation Keeping a consistent meeting format helps leaders know what to expect, so they come ready to receive and respond. Turn the main things our ministries are focused on into questions that get asked at every meeting. This keeps everyone’s focus on the main thing, and lets people know what updates to come prepared with.

For example, our leaders know that we’ll ask about the progress of groups that are being launched - so they come prepared with updates, numbers, problems, and proposals. The more often you check in on something, the shorter the updates will be.

Pro Tip: What are 3 things you need to know to assess the progress of your ministry? Turn them into questions that get asked at every meeting.

When You’re Done, You’re Done Always try to end the meeting at the time we said we would. When we’re done with the content of the meeting, make it a point to let everyone know that the meeting is over, and that they are free to leave.

Now some people might want to hang around and chill, and that’s fine! But we don’t want everyone in the room to feel like they’re obligated to sit around for another two hours, or that the meeting is a never-ending one.

Pro Tip: Tell your leaders what time you expect the meeting to end too, this lets them plan their time better.

Leaders’ Meeting Format

10min: Updates/Testimonies

15min: Worship

10min: Ministry Time

15min: Prayer/Intercession

20min: Lesson

10min: Discussion

15min: Admin

10min: Rhema

5min: Personal Prayer