Meeting Rhythms By Rebecca Miller

THE GAME-CHANGER IN BUILDING A CONNECTED HIGH PERFORMING TEAM

Around 10 years ago is when I had my business epiphany. The moment when I truly, for the first time, understood why I was here.

Yes, I’ve been around for a long time in business (OMG it’s been 28 years), and believe me, I’ve been through many ups and of course, the downs. You know the ones - when team members leave, working your guts out in the treatment room and trying to manage all the other balls in the air that go with running a business, including making time to really connect with your team.

One of my superpowers is my energy, but I was so busy being busy that it felt like sometimes I would get to the end of the day and have achieved nothing.

Who can relate to this?

I didn’t have a system or process in place, I didn’t have a plan for business and financially, I was kinda swinging by the seat of my pants. If there was money in my bank account, I thought I was going ok.

I fumbled my way through for many years and I did ok but I knew I was capable of so much more. I needed to take my technician hat off and become a real business owner. This was the moment I knew I needed to develop my leadership skills and become the leader I was born to be.

I found myself a coach and my thirst for knowledge on all thing’s leadership mindset and business. I was obsessed with reading 100s of books, attending seminars, learning everything I could to expand my knowledge, level up my skills, and gain as much experience as to grow and scale my business.

When I sit and think about the journey, it has been so worth it, and the results that my La Bella Medispa group has been able to achieve still blows my mind. To go from a single operator working 60 hours a week in the treatment room to growing an empire of 3 clinics, over 22 team members, and a thriving brand and online business with The Skin Whisperer. Whoa, girl, you did it! When we start our salon or clinic, it’s normally because we have a passion for the skills part of our business right? For me, it was a skin transformation, especially being a country girl, our skins out here really needed some serious love and guidance from a professional. We have a passion for really making a difference in our client’s lives that choose our business, we love the way we make people feel but there is more to a business than being exceptional at our crafts.

As business owners, we are always looking for the magic pill or the secret sauce to creating a business that gives us the freedom of time, an incredible team, and substantial money. Yes, MONEY! It is not a dirty word! It’s the very fuel source that will give you choices in your business.

The Number One is a no-brainer - ask for HELP! Get a coach to support your journey, to hold you to the highest standard, and teach you how to really run your business. This will help you lay strong foundations, so your business is safe, sustainable, and enjoyable for you. A coach will help you see things you may not see. Transitioning over to ZING I’ve found my calling and love I am now helping the salon/clinic owner strategic business plan in place, you are probably running around like a chook with its head cut off, feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and completely exhausted. The reason I know that is because this was me.

Number 3 is effective meeting rhythms, and this is what I will be taking a deep dive into today. When I speak to most business owners, they really have no structure around meeting rhythms and might start monthly meetings but are just not consistent or move it around to put clients in. I’m also totally guilty of this. Having effective meeting rhythms aligns you and your team to your organization, creates consistent communication, builds deeper connections, and results in team fulfillment. When it comes to effective meeting rhythms, it all starts with the vision of your business. This is your why. Why does your business exist? Why do you exist? What legacy do you want to leave behind?

Your purpose is your fuel source, and your business is your vehicle to deliver it and bring value to the lives of others. What’s your 5 to the 10-year mission? Yes, your big hairy audacious goal.

As Bill Gates said, “most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can accomplish in a decade”. How many people do you want to reach?

YOUR PURPOSE IS YOUR FUEL SOURCE, AND YOUR BUSINESS IS YOUR VEHICLE TO DELIVER IT AND BRING VALUE TO THE LIVES OF OTHERS.

What are the core values of your business? This is our blueprint. These are your guiding principles, driving behaviors, language, beliefs, and support all of your decision-making. Our values are our standards and are super important if you want to attract the right people to come on the journey with you.

Understanding and articulating our vision to our team is what gives our business meaning so they know they are a part of something so much bigger than themselves. Our purpose is the very thing that ignites creativity, passion, and alignment in our team. Being clear of your vision is the key to successful meeting rhythms.

The first thing when implementing meeting rhythms, you need to mark out the time the meeting times are scheduled a year in advance. This is a non-negotiable time and our team really looks forward to all meeting rhythms we have implemented. I know when I started, I wasn’t perfect at delivering these meetings, but I just started and got better and better each time. It’s all about showing up and being consistent. The meeting rhythms have been the very thing that has helped really build my leadership muscles.

Let’s start with the daily huddle.

In my clinics, we start each day right with a daily huddle. Daily huddles are high-energy and the perfect way to engage your team before the day starts with really positive energy.

There are so many benefits to the daily huddles. It’s a simple and easy way to implement a powerful habit that connects the team to your business’s cultural values, increases the flow of communication, and provides opportunities to offer each other support (along with a little social pressure to get shit done).

In our daily huddles, our team makes a public declaration on the task they will get done for that day. This accountability is a super powerful key to performance but also creates autonomous behavior and complete alignment in our team. When I started the daily huddle process, I had no idea the impact it would have on my team and business. I ran the daily huddles myself for around 6 months to really embed the behaviors, the language, and the energy required to get the best out of my team.

So, how does a daily huddle work? For starters, it’s first thing in the morning, 10 minutes before start time. We all stand together and share: 1. What’s our win from the day before? 2. What are the 3 tasks for the day each team member is committed to achieving? These are derived from the big rocks for the quarter. 3. The Cultural Value each team member will live by for that day 4. Any bottlenecks that could potentially stop us from achieving what we set out to achieve and troubleshoot support ideas to help tick our task off. 5. One thing we’re each grateful for as a La Bella Team Member

One-on-one meetings occur weekly. This is time for your team members to have a special time with you and to really chat about all things wins and things they can potentially be struggling with. We as leaders must use our intuition to read body language and tones of voice. Remember questions are the answers and we must listen to hear, not to respond. If you are doing all the talking then you are not tapping into your team members. I always start on a positive focus asking what their biggest win has been since last week. Recognizing wins is so important in a business. I always ask so from 1 to 10 1 being shit house 10 being amazing how do you feel being in our business? If it’s not a 10 ask them what needs to change to get them to a 10. I follow by asking what their biggest challenge has been and support the outcome. Look at health check results, the amazing scorecard we use at ZING, and get your team members to identify where they went well and what they could do better. I really echo the impact we are having on our visiting guests and come up with some hot action items together to really amplify the commitment. I check in our culture and identify opportunities for us to do better as a team. Sometimes the catch-ups need to be nurtured if one of your team is struggling so really observe how they are showing and giving them what they need and sometimes it’s just love and support.

Weekly team training is non-negotiable.

This is an opportunity to up-skill your teams! Weekly tram training is ideal when you have your team altogether on the same day. This is generally 9 am one morning.

How we structure our training is:

1. Week 1 – Promotions. Go through up-andcoming promotions so the team are clear, make sure your procedure is written down, role-play how to speak to clients about promotions

2. Week 2 - Skills training

3. Week 3 - Skills training

4. Week 4 - Planning with your team. Checkin on the team big rocks if you have done planning, plan out socials for the next month

These weekly trainings have been a massive contributing factor in the results we achieve with our clients and have built so much confidence with our tea. Our girls look forward to and love this training each week.

Sprint driver planning days.

We shut our business 3 times a year and plan with our teams. This is where we review and celebrate the 4 months before, identifying our accomplishments, what we did well, our lessons learned, and the things we do not want to repeat. We look at our strengths, our weaknesses, and trends in the marketplace.

Then, we reset and map out, and plan our next 4-month sprint. These days are amazing team bonding opportunities by including yoga, meditations, and fun activities to get us thinking and most of all have fun.

When it comes to our business, we are always looking and measuring our touchpoints with our clients but for me, your touchpoints with your team are the most important thing you can do as a leader. Our business is a reflection of us, and we need to take the time to know our people at a deeper level.

They are a part of your dream so be a part of theirs too. Be the leader you would want to follow. For me, leadership is a privilege. Having the opportunity to impact and change another human being’s life for the better is something that lights me up and this is what being a transformational leader truly is.

So, take the time to expand and develop your team personally and professionally. You will see your business change and you’ll discover a more purposeful, happier aligned, and fulfilled team which will impact your customer journey for the better. Most of all, you will create a business that you LOVE.

Please reach out if you have any questions,

Love and Gratitude, Rebecca ZING Coach

Rebecca Miller is a Senior Business Coach at The ZING Project. For more advice for your salon, spa or clinic, join the ‘Salon Smarts’ private Facebook group today or contact Rebecca at rebecca@zingcoach.com.au.

REBECCA MILLER