Consistency makes regularly scheduled team meetings run smoothly and productively. And when “simplicity” rides shotgun, those meetings are even better.

This is according to Steve Sarrantonio, who is the co-owner of Carolina Auto Care along with his wife, Kris. The business is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, a SpeeDee Oil Change franchise with four stores—two in North Carolina and two in South Carolina. For the latter two shops, Chris Parkin, a partner in the business, provides a local presence, living in Charleston, South Carolina.

Here’s what else Steve Sarrantonio says can help quick lube owners and managers get the best mileage from meetings.

Right Timing, Right Meeting Leader

“Using the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) method means that we try to do an hour, maybe an hour and a half max,” Sarrantonio says about the timeframe sweet spot for his shops’ monthly meetings.

“You really don’t want employees working a 10-plus hour shift and then staying for three hours, so timeframe is important,” he emphasizes.

When possible, meetings should be scheduled in advance, such as a certain day of every month, Sarrantonio suggests. That way, everybody always knows going into the year when the meetings take place. Sarrantonio adds that he pays employees for their time spent in meetings.

Sarrantonio also finds success in having his shop managers lead his franchises’ monthly meetings because he is not as hands-on as he was in the early days, when he was typically in the shop 50 hours a week.

“You don’t want to oversee it if you’re an owner who has multiple stores,” he states.

Instead, the store manager should lead team meetings because they’re the ones in the trenches each day.

Consistency is Key

Sarrantonio suggests covering the same written agenda at each month’s meeting—with different talking points.

“The format of the meeting needs to be consistent for employees because they really kind of beg for that consistency,” he finds. “They want to know what (to) expect every time they come to an hourlong meeting.”

Even though the talking points will change—according to car count for the month, sales per ticket, etc.—Sarrantonio says there’s one key element his managers must include at each meeting: praise.

Why Praise is Vitally Important

Call out good behavior, Sarrantonio suggests.

“You don’t want to bring up the negatives or the bad habits or things that are going wrong,” Sarrantonio has found.

“In a sense, if you praise somebody, sometimes that kind of shines a light on what maybe someone else is doing wrong, without putting that person who’s doing something wrong on a stage in front of (their) peers,” he reasons.

And he adds, “So, whether it’s, ‘You’re getting a great bonus,’ or ‘Your procedures are fantastic, the way your call outs are this or that,’ rather than just pointing out the employee that has the bad behavior.”

Serve It Up Like a Sandwich

Sarrantonio says the best method for his teams’ meetings looks like a sandwich.

“It’s where the bread is like a filler, so you start with sales, for example, car count and ticket average vs. (that same) month last year,” he says. “Or share that you made a goal by this much or missed a goal by that much, but you really want to keep it factual.”

In the middle of the sandwich—the meat of the meeting, which probably comes at about 15 minutes in—is where you want to cover your team’s accomplishments and what still needs to be accomplished.

“It can be the stuff that you’ve changed, whether it’s in the area of operational issues or administration issues,” he suggests. For example, It could be about the process of greeting customers, and maybe it’s something you’re working to change.”

Whatever the issues, the meat can take up about 45 minutes of the meeting, Sarrantonio finds.

“Then you end it with the bread (again), because that’s like another filler. (It could be) you go around the room and somebody brings up something positive that happened for them or for the store, or you take questions (and respond),” he says.

Be on Site After Meeting Previous Night

A manager who leads a monthly meeting should be in the store the following day.

As Sarrantonio puts it, “I believe the manager needs to work a minimum of two days after a meeting, because (that’s) the only way to get anything accomplished.”

He adds, ”You could sit there on a Monday or Tuesday night, (for instance), and talk about the changes you want on how a car (is) processed, and then you take the next day off.”

What happens is that nothing changes when employees come in the next morning and go right back to what they’ve always done.

“As a leader, you need to be there … to make the changes you’ve insisted need to happen, whether it’s better service, more revenue, and you need to prove to them that it can be done,” Sarrantonio states.

Perks After Work

The end of each meeting can be a good opportunity for managers to wrap up on a high note, such as the announcement of a team dinner or a bowling night out, if a shop has budget for after-hours activities.

“Set goals during that (month’s) meeting and talk it up throughout the month,” Sarrantonio says. “Because if you hit those goals, obviously you didn’t do it alone. The team rallied. And then go out with them and break bread.”