Over the last two weeks, we’ve discussed meetings that run the business and improve the business.

Today, let’s examine the third category: meetings that build the team.

Before we do, I’d like to share a story.

One summer morning at 2:00 AM, our team received an email that would turn into one of the largest technology incidents the world had ever experienced. Nearly every server and computer at our organization and others throughout the world would not power on.

As people woke up, they began joining chats and calls to understand what was happening. It quickly became clear that this wasn’t a local problem. Organizations around the world were affected, and the only solution required a manual fix on every impacted device.

Our systems administrators immediately began working to restore critical systems and servers. The deskside support team pulled out our business continuity plan and started identifying which systems and departments needed to come back online first and began visiting every desk in the organization to start remediating the issue. As systems administrators brought systems back up and completed their work, they shifted over to assist the rest of the team. I coordinated communication with leadership and vendors, gathered the information team members needed to perform the manual fixes, and helped remove obstacles as they arose.

No one had to be told what their role was that day. People just started doing what needed to be done. Looking back, that’s what stands out most. Not the outage itself, but how the team responded.

Years earlier, I had been part of the same team during smaller crises. Those experiences often felt chaotic. People worked hard, but roles weren’t always clear. Communication wasn’t always consistent. We were reacting rather than executing a plan. But this time, things were different. During our after-action review, I realized the outage had revealed our success due to preparation.

What most people didn’t see that day were the years of preparation that led to that moment. They didn’t see the weekly team meetings where we reviewed our scorecard and team playbook. They didn’t see the 1:1 meetings, annual planning sessions, quarterly reviews, team lunches, trust-building exercises, role clarification discussions, process documentation, and countless conversations that helped us learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Some people had questioned whether those activities were worth the time. They wanted us answering calls and tickets. no matter our roles. They viewed team lunches, planning sessions, and trust-building exercises as distractions from the real work. But when one of the largest technology outages in history occurred, all of those seemingly small investments paid off. Not because they solved the outage, but because they built the team that solved the outage.

That evening, the president of the organization sent a message to every employee praising our team’s performance. I appreciated the recognition, but I couldn’t help thinking about everything that had happened long before that day. The success people saw during the crisis was built over months and years through intentional effort to develop trust, improve communication, clarify roles, and strengthen relationships.

That’s why meetings that build the team matter. Their value isn’t always visible in the moment. Sometimes their true value only becomes obvious when your team faces its biggest challenge.

Many organizations focus heavily on work and results. Many don't intentionally create opportunities to build trust, develop people, and strengthen culture. But creating a strong team requires intentionality beyond work and results. That’s why build-the-team meetings are so important. These meetings ensure the team is growing and capable of fulfilling the organization’s strategy.

Culture and Communication Meetings (2 Hours)

These meetings keep everyone aligned around the organization’s mission, vision, values, purpose, and strategic direction. They often take the form of town halls, all-hands meetings, or leadership briefings.

Key Outcomes

• Greater transparency
• Clear communication of decisions
• Reinforcement of organizational values
• Respectful debate and discussion
• Accountability and collaboration

One-on-One (1:1) Meetings (15–30 Minutes)

1:1s are weekly or bi-weekly and dedicated to supporting the individual, not reviewing status updates.

A simple agenda has three questions:

1. What was your biggest accomplishment since we last met?
2. What obstacles can I help remove?
3. What do you want to discuss?

Key Characteristics

• Weekly or bi-weekly cadence
• Employee-driven agenda
• Focus on coaching, development, and support
• Opportunity to address concerns early

Team-Building Activities

One weakness of many meeting frameworks is that they focus on work, but not relationships.

Teams perform better when people know and trust each other.

Examples include:

• Team lunches
• Volunteer events
• Celebrations
• Retreat activities
• Learning events and conferences

These activities build trust, camaraderie, and psychological safety, helping teams engage in meaningful work, healthy conflict, and accountability more effectively.

This concludes our series on meetings. As you look at your calendar, consider asking one simple question before scheduling your next meeting:

Does this meeting run the business, improve the business, or build the team?

If it doesn’t, it may be time to eliminate it or redesign it.

Great teams don’t have more meetings. They have better ones.

PS: If you’re struggling to make time for team-building activities because your calendar feels overwhelming, start small. A weekly 1:1, a monthly team lunch, or a quarterly planning session can have a bigger impact than you might imagine. As I learned during that outage, the investments that seem least urgent today are often the ones that matter most when it counts.

PPS: Did you know Microsoft 365 subscriptions usually include all the tools needed to effectively run build-the-team meetings. Reply to this email for a free consultation to review your tools and how they can help with build-the-team meetings.

Perry Myers
​The Outlier Team​