Our top 5 ways to get your new junior employees engaged in your meetings from their first day
For new junior employees, your daily meetings could be an anxiety-inducing ordeal that they have to suffer through. But these 5 tips will help you get them comfortable and engaged from their first day.
Do you remember your first ever work meeting? Were you sweaty-palmed, leg shaking and clock watching or were you completely relaxed?
Odds are that you were the former – I certainly was!
When you feel this anxious it can be hard to contribute in your first meeting – or in any after that. It’s important that as a leader in your business you guide your employees through their meetings, nip any uncertainties in the bud and set them up for a great period of employment with you.
Here’s how you can get your new junior employees engaged in team meetings
1 – Give good warning
It’s always a good idea to let your new hires know what they’re in for on their first day. Especially if it involves a big team meeting at 10 am.
Explain how your meetings normally work, what you’ll talk about and whether they’ll need to introduce themselves or just sit and listen.
No one wants to find themselves in an early morning social situation with what feels like huge pressure on them to say the right thing. A little pre-warning can go a long way to helping someone get composed.
2 – Use a format
Are your meetings a free for all or do you stick to some kind of agenda or format?
A little bit of organisation can be just what you need to make your new junior employees engaged and comfortable in meetings.
We use a stand-up meeting format. This is where we go around the virtual room, letting everyone talk about what they did yesterday, what they’re planning to do today and about any problems they’ve come across.
This gives everyone the chance to prepare what they’re going to say and have their voice heard.
3 – Help them prepare
Speaking of preparations, do you have any resources that could help?
Never underestimate the power of a social situation. A handy resource will help your new junior employees know what to say, how long to speak for and how to address any concerns they have.
Our free Daily Stand-up Meeting Worksheet will help you put them at ease.
4 – Open with introductions
Meetings can be overwhelming, especially when you’re not sure who exactly you’re talking to.
It’s easy to forget to introduce your new employee to their new team, but it’s so valuable! These first introductions will help them understand more about everyone’s role, who to turn to for help and how the business works and their place in it.
5 – It’s not all about work
Some good non-work chat can help put everyone at ease. When working remotely, social chat can be forgotten in the rush of going from meeting to meeting.
But in a regular office setting your whole team would be chatting throughout the day. When we work remotely and lose this it can be lonely.
As a remote newbie it can be hard to get to know anyone on your team enough to feel comfortable. So encourage non-work related chat and build that team morale!
If you need any extra help sourcing new junior employees or making them engaged in work meetings, check out our free resources and our hiring platform.