What’s the best format for restructuring support staff meetings?

Question: “Our organization has held system wide support staff meetings that are usually topic specific. We have undergone an organizational restructuring and the person who was in charge of these admin meetings is now gone. Attendance at these meetings has been poor and the topics don’t seem to relate to everyone. We want to restructure these meetings. Does anyone have systemwide support staff meetings? If so, what’s your format? What are the topics? What do you find the most valuable? How does the support staff respond to these meetings?” — Anonymous

Comments

Elizabeth Jergens October 28, 2010 at 5:16 pm

Thanks for the info! It’s very helpful. About how many admin’s do you have in your organization? Can I contact you at a later date if I have questions or need some input? It sounds like you have great experience in this area.

Leigh October 22, 2010 at 4:00 pm

We have monthly Admin meetings with a yearly rotating chair and co-chair in charge of setting up the agenda, facilitating the meetings, and serving as contacts for issues that may come up during the month. We try to approach it foremost as “best practices” sharing and then any other issues that are presented that may not be relevant to everyone, we set up sub-committees to meet later from the admins who find the subject relevant. Our admins also network as a team to assist when one of us needs extra help on a project. I have found just getting to know each other better is extremely valuable and everyone can learn something from someone else’s experience. Sometimes enthusiasm for these meetings can be low for a while at first, since everyone is so busy in their own departments and some personalities may clash, but most people come to value learning from their peers, working as a team, and sharing their own best practices. Good luck!