How to Spice Up Company Meetings
May 4th, 2010Most people don’t look forward to company meetings. Why? Even though they’re an essential part of doing business, they’re also usually long and dull.
So what can you do to spice up your meetings? Here are some tips:
Prepare and send out an agenda ahead of time.
If people know what topics you will cover, they will mentally prepare ahead of time – which will lead to a more productive meeting.
Plan to keep your meeting short, from 30-60 minutes.
After that one-hour mark, you tend to start losing people. If you have to hold a meeting that you think will run longer, consider breaking it up into two sessions.
Start meetings with an icebreaker.
Depending the meeting’s topic, go around the table and have each person share their experiences. For instance, if you’re meeting about improving customer satisfaction, have each attendee tell the group one positive and one negative they get in terms of feedback from your customers.
Use creative presentation methods.
Don’t lecture your employees. Use a range of presentation methods to keep them interested and to inspire discussion. It never hurts to add a little bit of humor into the mix, as well. (No off-color or inappropriate jokes, though.)
Change your meeting venue.
Instead of always meeting in the conference room, take your employees to lunch to meet about the topic. The flow of conversation and feedback is easier in a more relaxed setting. Or, if the weather’s nice, go outside. You never know, a little fresh air could offer a fresh perspective.
As a Northwest staffing agency, we know that your time is valuable – and the last thing you want to do is waste it on unproductive meetings. Instead, spice up your meetings a little so they are both more effective and more enjoyable.
