Communication, teamwork, and creativity are critical for the success of any given business, organization or department. One such way to foster all of these things is through meetings. For meetings to be as successful as possible, they must be engaging. It’s not always an easy task to hold the attention of others in this fast-paced attention-grabbing society, yet that is exactly what must be accomplished!
Highly Successful Intimate Meetings
One way to ensure an intimate meeting not only holds the attention of the participants but evokes innovation and teamwork, is to keep the meeting exciting and unexpected. Instead of facilitating the standard formula, implement unexpected techniques. Imagine your team in the meeting space, eyes wide open, energy high, and excitedly wondering what might happen next. Today we are going to share four ways to make your next intimate meeting exciting and unexpected!
Discover Group Meetings at The Inn at Virginia Tech >>
Innovative Meeting Space
Rather than hosting your meeting at the office, as per usual, consider having an off-site meeting somewhere exciting and unexpected. Fresh surroundings will stimulate the meeting attendees and getting their minds working in a new way. The anticipation of traveling together to experience a day, or a few days, of connecting outside of the traditional workplace will get your team excited and buzzing.
Have a Mind, Body, and Spirit Approach
Too often meetings run for hours on end, with the attendees sitting the entire time. This day in age, we have ample data depicting the importance of a more wellness approach; breaks and exercises for the mind, body, and spirit are necessary. Throughout the meeting experience, sprinkle in activities to soothe and nourish your attendees. Perhaps the group gets taken on a guided meditative walk between sessions. Considering having a yoga class on the lawn just before breaking for lunch.
RELATED: Using Humor and Wit to Make Your Event Worth Attending
Sprinkle in Inspiration
Surprise and delight the meeting attendees by having a surprise guest speaker at some point. Choose someone relevant to the meeting topics, who has a unique and exciting presentation style. Choose a speaker who will inspire and motivate your team, getting their minds working in a fresh way. Be sure that this presentation or speech is short and sweet, leaving the attendees on the edge of their seats wanting more.
Rewards and Recognition
Studies have shown that people are much more engaged when they are being acknowledged. There are so many fun ways to appreciate and applaud your team, get creative with it! One suggestion is to give each attendee a certain amount of note cards; the amount is based on however many other attendees there are. Let them know that throughout the day they are to write a note of acknowledgment and praise to each other attendee. By the end of the day, all the note cards are to be completed, and each attendee will go around placing them in each other’s little mailboxes (which you can provide or create ahead of time).
Intimate meetings get to be exciting and unexpected, capturing and holding the attention of each attendee. When meetings are approaching with the intention of sparking joy and creativity, then there’s no limit to what will be achieved by the end of the meeting experience. We hope you find these four tips supportive next time you are planning a corporate meeting. For those of you shopping around for an innovative and unexpected meeting space, we invite you to consider visiting us here at The Inn at Virginia Tech.
