The whole 37signals thing gathered in Chicago for a pow wow last week. How do we start a meeting? By celebrating.
No confetti or streamers. Just a recap of everything we’ve accomplished since we met last (we hold full-team meetings every few months). We tick off the accomplishments and let the champions of each one explain what happened and what was learnt. Plus, they get to bask in a bit of glory for (presumably) a job well done.
It’s easy for businesses to get caught up with looking forward all the time. Or to focus on problem areas. But it’s also smart to take a few minutes to look in the rearview mirror and review how far you’ve come. Celebrate your progress. Consider it morale fuel.
Matt Linderman wrote this on May 14 2008 There are 17 comments.
FredS 14 May 08
Like The Chris Farley show?
“Um.. do you remember when we launched High… um Highrise?? ... that was awesome.”
Anonymous Coward 14 May 08
What quarterly business meeting doesn’t review recent accomplishments? Do you guys really think everything you do is some great new concept you just invented?
Kyle Pike 14 May 08
AC,
If people assumed everyone knew what they knew, how would anyone learn?
Nate 14 May 08
A while ago you guys were talking about an entire 37signals retreat somewhere and were getting readers’ recommendations. Did you end up going and where at if I may ask?
JF 14 May 08
AC, we didn’t say this is a great new concept we just invented. We just thought it was worth sharing.
If you’re looking for an argument you won’t find it here.
Des 14 May 08
AC , Do you seriously think you’re the first person to question the originality of a thought or an idea?
Yet here you are doing it anyways
Dhrumil 14 May 08
One of the things we do is also talk about the personal growth the individual members of the team had. Things that aren’t often quantifiable, but really make huge impacts.
Bigs ups.
Peter Urban 14 May 08
Absolutely right. There is way to much emphasis on problems in the corporate world then there is genuine happiness about and time for celebration about the things accomplished.
Wes Winham 14 May 08
The “what have you done” part of a SCRUM meeting is one of my favorite parts of the whole method. There’s implicit motivation in knowing that if you do something cool, you’re going to get to tell people about it. It’s also fun to share in the accomplishment when somebody else did something cool.
Keith 14 May 08
Celebration is such a hard thing for organizations to do for themselves. I never thought 37signals had this problem ;) but it is something a lot of people forget.
We build on our accomplishments so recognizing them is an important part of meetings. I do this weekly with staff. It’s a great conversation starter and a lot of times can lead people to say things like, “Yeah…but now we’ve got…”
There is a natural progression from celebration into anticipation that just feels right. 37signals has a lot to celebrate so congrats from the outside!
ettore 14 May 08
How is this different from the quarterly company meetings at BigCorp? We also comment on the past but it’s just tedious. I dread those meetings. Don’t get me wrong, I like your initiative. It always feels good when other people acknowledge what you have done and maybe comment on it candidly, including negative constructive feedback. However this doesn’t happen often. Usually comments are kind of neutral and so, not that honest.
ML 14 May 08
How is this different from the quarterly company meetings at BigCorp? We also comment on the past but it’s just tedious.
One small thing we do that’s prob diff: We start with a slide that says, “Celebrate.” That sets a different tone than “Quarterly review” or something similar.
Grant 14 May 08
Great reminder – it’s easy to get caught up in both the trouble areas of the present and what needs to happen in the future.
different anonymous coward 14 May 08
I dislike the appropriation of the term ‘pow wow’ and find it to be more than a bit offensive.
YAACoward 15 May 08
We start with a slide that says, “Celebrate.”
It is interesting how this follows the ‘You cant build culture’ post.
Nivi 15 May 08
Nice. Peter Drucker also recommends starting meetings by focusing on opportunities, as opposed to problems.
SystemsThinker 15 May 08
This sort of mirrors the Discovery stage of Appreciative Inquiry. I think it’s always helpful to get straight the story of what’s come before and where you’re at before beginning to vision the future and make concrete plans.
This discussion is closed.