Company meetings and corporate events can accomplish a great deal. They’re a way to discuss new ideas, team build, problem solve, and so much more. Company meetings are a necessary part of running a business, but are sometimes viewed as a waste of time and money. However, if done correctly, people can leave these meetings feeling productive and ready to get to work.
So, how can you accomplish this?
◾ A company meeting should have a clearly defined purpose.
Don’t waste everybody’s time. Know exactly what you want to discuss and have all your thoughts and materials gathered well before the opening day of the corporate event. Have a written agenda prepared to help the group stay on topic and to make the best use of time. The arrangement of your agenda depends on you knowing your employees. One school of thought is to start with most important information first while people are the most alert and interactive, while others prefer to keep the most important discussions for the end of the meeting so you fit in the smaller, less time consuming issues beforehand. Know your group and plan accordingly.
Being realistic about timelines, budget, and agenda is a big part of planning a company meeting. Check out 5 ways to accomplish that and more!◾ Make people aware of the agendas before the meetings begin.
Sharing your planned outlines for the meetings will allow those who will be in attendance to think the topics over. This will ensure that they come prepared to discuss and share ideas. In turn, the meeting will run more smoothly and get everyone out of there in a more timely manner. Another helpful company meeting idea is to use social media as a way for your group to discuss and brainstorm before the actual event. Creating closed groups or event pages are a great way to do this.
◾ Create a realistic timeline for the company meeting.
An important part of corporate event planning is making a schedule and sticking to, but it can be tricky. The first step is to have a realistic idea of how long topics will take to discuss and plan accordingly. Also, remember it is your job to keep attendees on track. Be sure to steer people back on topic when things get too far off in order to keep to your timeline. Remember to schedule breaks into your timeline, as well. Running your meeting too long will cause people to lose focus. Consider having breaks every 45 minutes or so, even if it’s just for a 5 minute stretch. Obviously, schedule longer breaks for lunch, giving them enough time to eat and leave the room for a change of scenery and fresh air.
◾ Use visuals aides to enhance key company meeting ideas and topics.
Incorporating things like charts, videos, and slides will help to get your points across more easily. Discussions are great, but visual aides help to burn the information into attendees minds. These aides also help those who are more visual learners to absorb the information and keep up in the meeting. Incorporating new technology whenever possible is a great way to keep employees interested. One fun example would be using an app for your meeting. People could access your agenda and timeline through the app and be instantly notified of any changes.
◾ Consider hiring corporate entertainment for your meeting or event.
When planning longer running meetings and corporate events, bringing in corporate entertainment can be a great way to bring energy levels up. Opening sessions, closing sessions, and appreciation/awards dinners are all great times to include this element. This is one of those company meeting ideas that is often overlooked, but can have a huge impact on the atmosphere and openness of attendees.
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Throwing corporate events and/or company meetings can be expensive and time consuming, all the more reason you want to run them as efficiently as possible. Hopefully these tips will help you to get in there, discuss important issues, and get out without wasting any of your or your employees time and money.
