Add Flavor to Staff Meetings

Is it possible to make a meeting exciting when we have a REALLY heavy agenda?

My thoughts are yes!!  The following are some methods that I have used over the years when holding staff and supervisor meetings.  My first realization years ago was that not everyone felt the same sense of accomplishment or excitement by just checking things off a list as I did.  I would walk away feeling great, we had worked hard and the time was well spent.  However, my staff would walk away looking drained and ready to call it a day.  What was going on?

Here is what I realized I was doing that wasn’t energizing to my staff – all our meetings were the same place, the same time, the same format, you get the picture.  I started moving my meeting time around breakfast or lunch and added 15-30 minutes for eating.  My staff enjoyed the change, and the social time before the meeting.  We then began to occasionally leave the office for the meetings, opting for different local restaurants where we could meet.   One advantage of working with a small group is that everyone can ride in one your car, so the meeting starts as soon as you’re in the car.  I also let go of making these logistical decisions and let the staff decide – which gave them a sense of ownership in the process.  One time we ended up 30 minutes away in Wichita at Panera Bread!

I quickly learned the more energized they were, the more productive they were, and we seemed to get through our agenda quicker with the same quality.  Staff started taking ownership for the quality of meeting time.  They would come up with additional ideas to add excitement and motivation to the meetings, such as the last one to the meeting brings a snack to the next meeting, or having a quick, fun and meaningful activity before we started on our agenda.

I think it is easy for staff to come up with ideas on how to add excitement to meetings.  You can give your staff the permission and empowerment to own the process and the outcome, while still getting to the bottom line, and HOW you get there can be an exciting process and team-building experience.

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