What is town hall meeting?

A town hall meeting is an organization-wide meeting attended by all employees and executive management team members. It is hosted by a senior management team member and is the perfect opportunity for the management to meet and interact with their employees and share their business plan.

The meeting can be held in a large conference hall or virtually via platforms such as zoom with good planning and technical execution depending on the company’s reach.

The Purpose of Town Hall Meetings

Town Hall meetings serve various purposes in a workplace. Some of them are;

Aligning Goals

By holding town hall meetings, employers can communicate their short-term and long-term goals for the company so the employees can receive the information and work on it together.

Visible Leadership

A large organization means that the senior management rarely has time to interact with their employees personally. However, a town hall meeting ensures that they meet regularly face to face in the same room.

Promote Teamwork and collaboration.

When everyone is in the same room, it encourages people to mingle. Additionally, it helps remote team members in a virtual meeting to feel connected with their fellow employees, project managers, product managers and bosses. When people from different departments come together, they become familiar and can work together effectively.

Raw Feedback

The senior management gets honest and unfiltered feedback from employees during town hall meetings. The employees also get direct feedback from the management, making communication easier.

What to Discuss in a Town Hall Meeting

There are no standard rules for when and where to hold a town hall meeting. However, it should adhere to this strict plan:

●     A short opening. The leader should introduce the agenda so that every attendee knows what to expect from the meeting.

●     State of the company address. The session presents the perfect opportunity for employees and the management to look at the company’s current state.

●     Discuss the findings of a survey that was conducted before the meeting.

●     Look at all the features and initiatives in focus.

●     Q&A session where everyone can raise any issues they have.

●     Ending points and remarks are given.

●     Survey

●     Minutes are discussed, and a post-mortem is done.

Town Hall Meeting On Zoom

As more companies commit to remote working, it’s becoming crucial to adapt town hall meetings to video calls and platforms such as zoom. While these virtual town hall meetings are meant to make everyone in the team feel included, a poorly executed one will make them feel alienated. On the other hand, a successful discussion will make remote workers feel valued even if they can’t join the rest of the team physically. Sometimes not everyone can be present in the same place at once, so a virtual town hall meeting will make involving everyone easier without traveling.

Town Hall Vs. All Hands Meeting

Although these terms are used interchangeably, they have different meanings. A town hall meeting is more question and answer based, while All-Hands meetings focus on conveying a message and making a key presentation. This means that only one speaker addresses the whole company in an All-hands meeting, unlike the town hall.