Client meeting as Team Building exercise

When you hear ‘team building’, what’s the first thing that comes in to mind? A company-wide paintball/yoga/escape room/dinner? What if I would say: it’s your next client meeting!

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind a good paintball session 😅 ,however, I strongly believe that as a leader, the most productive and functional teams are build while doing the work.

So how can you as a leader (or team member) start doing this today?

✨Prepare together ✨

How? Let’s say you have a client meeting coming up, a sprint review for example, and the client is coming in. Even though it might seem everyone on your team knows the status of the work., it's important to prepare. Again, how? Simply answer these questions together:

1️⃣ What is your desired outcome of the meeting? → Is it to get specific feedback? Is it go get something approved so an invoice can be send? Is it to get stakeholders on board of your idea?

Keep in mind: the one in the lead of the meeting needs to make sure the desired outcome is reached by the end of the meeting. Otherwise, it’s a opportunity wasted.

2️⃣ Who is going to attend? → From the client side as well as from your team side. It’s important to know who you’re going to deal with, but also who is going to talk about what from your side.

Some think it’s an overkill to have the actual developer/designer at the table.

I believe it's the opposite.

Having the developer/designer there as the expert on whatever it is you are making has a two-fold benefit. The client feels taken seriously by having the expert there, and the developer/designer feels taken seriously because they can talk about their own work.

3️⃣ Who is in the lead? → The one in the lead (doesn’t need to be the project lead!), is in charge of the introduction, the time keeping and as stated above, making sure the desired outcome of the meeting is reached. Also the person keel tracks of any actions/follow-ups that need to be done.

This prep seems like a lot, but for a well-oiled team can mean just a 10 min check-in.

So why does this prep lead to building a better team? It shows that you take your team’s work seriously, that you value their opinion and that you trust them to talk to the client.

Remember: When you have your team’s trust, then you can create magic together! 🤩