Team Meetings Are Your Playing Field I Direct Application with Matt Harrington

Most teams don’t realize it, but the meeting room is their true playing field. It’s the one place where everyone comes together, decisions get made, and performance is either strengthened or weakened.

In Episode 20 of Direct Application, I share lessons drawn from my time on a championship football team and years of facilitating leadership teams. The core idea is simple: if you want a high-performing team, you need high-performing meetings.

In this episode, I walk through three practices that immediately elevate the effectiveness of any team meeting:

1. Treat the meeting like game time.
This is where alignment, collaboration, and real progress happen.

2. Let structure drive performance.
Clear agendas, defined roles, and time-bound outcomes help meetings stay focused and productive.

3. Make accountability a shared responsibility.
Rotating roles and ownership builds engagement, distributes leadership, and strengthens team culture.

If your meetings feel unfocused, update-heavy, or routine, this episode offers practical steps you can apply right away to change that dynamic.

You can also explore the companion post, Why Your Team Meetings Aren’t Working—and What High-Performing Teams Do Differently, for a deeper look at the research and frameworks behind this episode.

Episode 20 is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.