Question about meeting content

BLUF: What topics/agenda items are worthy of having an hour long meeting? What advice do you have for making sure the content of meetings is relevent when there isn't much content worth discussing?

I'm a long-time Career Tools listener, and I'm just getting started with Manager Tools. I'm listening to the MT Basics series and I'm in the middle of effective meetings.

Background: I work in an outpatient dialysis clinic, and I anticipate being in a management position in the next 2-3 years.

Daily Huddles and Staff Meetings

We have daily huddles with the staff that are working that day. They're a standing 15 minute meeting at shift change. It's primarily to hand off patients to the next shift, but it's also an opportunity to communicate to the staff.

Here's where my question is: We are also required to have monthly staff meetings. Since only about half of our staff works each day, about a dozen people come in on their day off for this meeting. The topics that are covered in this meeting seem completely inappropriate for a staff meeting. They include:

• Feedback on things that 1-2 people did wrong (horrible way to deliver feedback)
• Reminders about policies (again, basically feedback meant for a couple of people)
• Announcements about new policies or initiatives (something that could be emailed)
• Required training (which could be done on our own time)

What advice do you have for making sure the content of meetings is relevent when there isn't much content worth discussing?