How to Run Your First All-Hands Meeting

As your company continues to grow and evolve, you may need to rethink how you share company updates. Your goal is to build on your success and keep your team aligned. You want all your employees to hear your message at the same time. That means you’re ready for your first all-hands meeting.

An effective all-hands meeting can reset your team’s focus and show them that they’re part of something meaningful. Let's explore how to structure and lead such a meeting, and how to make it count.

What is an All-Hands Meeting?

An all-hands meeting refers to a gathering where all your employees come together to hear about your company’s progress. The goal is to share what’s happening within your business and to highlight wins and challenges. It’s a chance for your employees to engage with the leadership. But if you want to genuinely define an all-hands meeting, think of it as the one meeting where everyone gets to see how their work connects to what you’re building.

Some teams include demos of company products or incorporate live Q&A sessions. Others choose to keep their meetings short and mostly presentation-based. However you decide to run your meeting, you want your message to be consistent and transparent.

How to Plan and Structure Your First All-Hands Meeting

Running your first all-hands meeting requires some careful "hands-on" meeting prep. You want the meeting to be impactful and not turn into a lengthy status update. Plan it with intention and give it a structure that keeps your employees focused and engaged. Here are a few steps to get started:

1. Determine the Primary Objective

Decide what you want to accomplish. Is it alignment on strategy or addressing concerns? Do you want to share the company's progress? A clear goal will help you keep the meeting on track.

2. Involve Employees Early

Start gathering your employees’ input weeks before the all-hands meeting. Use surveys or quick check-ins to learn what’s on their minds. The feedback helps you shape a relevant agenda and ensures you’re not leaving out anything that employees actually need.

3. Balance Vision With Practical Updates

Open the meeting with a clear view of the company’s direction and the purpose behind it. Then layer in department updates. Add some concrete wins and challenges. Close it out with a Q&A session, so your employees get clarity on the information they just received.

4. Keep it Structured, Yet Flexible

Map out time blocks for each section, but leave space for natural interactions to occur. You may want to pause after team updates to clarify specific points or listen to personal input. Your employees should walk away feeling informed and confident that their voices shaped the conversation.

Tips for Engaging Employees During an All-Hands Meeting

All-hands meetings are most effective when employees feel like they’re part of the team. You want to design moments that pull employees in. Here are a few tips to engage them:

Connect Daily Work to Company Goals

Demonstrate how recent projects and initiatives align with your company's broader goal. When employees see the connection, the meeting feels relevant to their role.

Add Context to Your Metrics

Share your success metrics that tell the real story, revealing your company’s health. Context turns raw figures into a narrative your employees can understand and rally around.

Make Time for Q&A

Give your employees a chance to interact with the leadership and other teams at your all-hands meeting. They can discover how their work affects various parts of the business. It’s a simple way to break down silos and improve communication in the workplace.

Recognize Every Team 

Dedicate a moment to each department to celebrate a win or tell a customer story. It gives your employees visibility and helps them gain a different perspective about what your company does.

Get Help Behind the Scenes 

Designate someone to handle the timing and technology, allowing you and the other speakers to focus on engaging the audience. Having a producer helps to make the meeting run smoothly and prevent distractions.

Follow Best Practices

Hold all-hands meetings often enough that employees stay connected, but not so frequently that they become routine. Keep the agenda tight and rotate speakers to add more value. Small habits like these turn your all-hands meeting into an event employees look forward to instead of sitting through.

Keep the Momentum Going

The positive impact of your all-hands meeting will last longer if you continue to keep employees engaged and aligned with the company’s vision. Here are some ways to follow up after the meeting:

• Summarize the Key Takeaways: Send a short recap within a day or two, highlighting the main points and next steps. You can add a voice memo or quick video thanking everyone for attending.

• Collect Feedback: Ask your employees what worked or fell flat. Find out what they’d like to see or cover in the next all-hands meeting. The sooner you ask, the more candid the responses will be.

• Follow Through on Commitments: If you promised to revisit an issue or get more information about something, provide updates in the weeks ahead. Not following through on decisions or feedback can erode trust.

• Reinforce Without Being Repetitive: Weave meeting themes into team discussions and manager check-ins. Incorporate them into your continuous performance management. Avoid repeating the same things and instead focus on keeping employees aligned as your business moves forward. 

Streamlining HR Tasks with Justworks to Free Up Time

An all-hands meeting can strengthen your company culture and increase your employees' alignment with your vision. The prep work, meeting, and follow-up require time. That’s hard to come by when payroll and HR compliance tasks compete for your attention. The right tools and expert support can make a difference. A Professional Employer Organization tool like the Justworks PEO can simplify your payroll and HR tasks. It helps lighten the load so you can put your time and energy into your team. Get started with Justworks today.