Making Meetings Meaningful
- heartleadnz
- Jul 10
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 18
What are meetings, really? On paper, they're structured gatherings intended to facilitate communication, collaboration, and decision-making within an organization. From a professional perspective, meetings have the potential to be powerful tools for building team cohesion, shaping culture, and driving innovation. Yet, if we’re honest, in early childhood education (ECE), meetings often carry a reputation of being tedious, uninspired, and utterly draining.
The Reality of ECE Meetings
Throughout my journey as an ECE leader, I've experienced the stark contrast between what meetings currently are and what they could be. I've witnessed the frustration of teachers obligated to attend weekly or fortnightly meetings just to cover the countless tasks they simply can’t squeeze into their overflowing daily schedules. I've seen eyes roll, enthusiasm wane, and teachers desperately counting down the minutes until they can return to their lives beyond work. And who can blame them? Valuable family time is sacrificed, often for meetings that lack structure, leadership, and meaningful engagement.
Too often, meetings are overtaken by mundane housekeeping announcements that could have easily been handled through email. Teachers stare blankly out windows or sneak glances at their phones, disengaged and disinterested. The leadership style often defaults to a one-sided narrative, with little space for authentic dialogue, collaboration, or genuine exchange of ideas.
But let's envision something different—something far more powerful.
Meetings That Ignite, Not Drain
Meetings should be eagerly anticipated moments that teachers genuinely look forward to. They deserve to be carefully protected times where educators aren’t rushed but can thoughtfully settle into deep dialogue and meaningful connection. True conversations that elicit teachers’ honest thoughts, feelings, and insights simply cannot be hurried. Meetings must become safe spaces for healthy disagreement, passionate reflection, rigorous inquiry, and collaborative problem-solving—all in the pursuit of better outcomes for our tamariki.
Imagine walking away from a meeting feeling ignited, inspired, and ready to passionately engage with your practice in new ways. Meetings should fuel the fire of enthusiasm, motivation, and professional passion. They should celebrate and highlight strengths, share expertise generously, and openly acknowledge the beautiful successes within your team. The precious time we invest away from our loved ones and personal lives must yield genuine meaning, profound growth, and lasting inspiration.
A New Model: Seasonal Meetings
My personal wake-up call came when I took a hard look at the real costs of meetings—not just financially, but emotionally and practically. Weekly or fortnightly meetings for large teams are not just expensive; they're often ineffective and demoralizing. The question became unavoidable: are these meetings truly giving our business and our people what they need and deserve?
A transformative alternative I've embraced—and have witnessed other centres successfully adopting—is the seasonal meeting model. Imagine quarterly gatherings on Saturdays, where teams dedicate around six hours to addressing housekeeping tasks upfront: medication training, lockdown drills, staff celebrations, and event planning. Then, with clear minds and open hearts, we dive deeply into what truly matters—planning a meaningful, responsive curriculum for the children in our care.
Let’s Rethink How We Meet
These longer, richer meetings create space for authentic collaboration, intentional environment reviews, thoughtful problem-solving, and strategic planning for emergent interests and dispositions. It's a chance to fully embrace our guiding documents, align our teaching approaches, and map out children’s unique learning trajectories. Just as we know children don’t thrive in isolation, teachers too require the magic of shared growth experiences to truly flourish.
However you choose to reshape your meetings, know that I’m passionately working behind the scenes, curating resources to revive and elevate your team’s collective experience. It's time we fundamentally shift our approach, shake things up, and reclaim the true power and potential of meetings.
Let's make our gatherings count. Let's transform how we meet and create meaningful change together.
Warmly, Gabby
