How to encourage engagement in team meetings.
I recently stepped into a supervisor position after two years at this company in a team lead role on the same team. Our team is one of five teams in a larger group that meets weekly for major progress updates (1 hr), I have 30-min 1:1s with all six of my directs either weekly or biweekly (at their preference), and we have a 15-minute individual team meeting with just the seven of us once a week. This is the meeting I am struggling with. I believe it was originally scheduled for an hour under the previous supervisor but since no one ever shared anything (them included), it's gradually gotten shorter and shorter. I WANT this team to feel like a team and improve these relationships but I don't know how.
Much of the work they do is repetitive, they all have assigned tasks to handle daily and these never change. There are some special projects throughout the year, but not many, and some recurring tasks that happen quarterly or annually that are discussed at the weekly meeting with the larger group, so mostly they are clocking in, completing their tasks, answering emails, and their work is done. Since the few special projects or recurring tasks are discussed in other spaces, when I bring them up in the smaller team meeting I basically get eye rolls. I still personally feel like it's valuable to recognize the work the team is doing, celebrate wins and progress, and keep others apprised of ongoing tasks.
1:1s were challenging in the beginning too. I've been successful in getting them to open up a bit more individually, but in the group it's like everyone is either too shy to brag about a success or ask for help from more than just myself, or simply think it's a waste of their time to mention anything. Some claim their workload is so heavy they don't have time for meetings, which I've assessed and believe this is instead an excuse. It's really been bothering me. Some suggestions I've read are things like icebreaker questions or calling on each individual person for a status update. I don't see either of these working well with this group. I like the idea of asking each person one thing they are most proud of and one thing they are most anxious about from the last week, which is another suggestion I received, but I think that's more suitable for a 1:1.
I am open to any and all suggestions for how to bring this team meeting back to life. On a team where there truly won't be many regular (weekly) updates on projects, what can we focus on as a team to build morale and trust and teamwork?