The word “meeting” has taken on a boring, time-wasting, and generally negative connotation in recent times. We’re all busy people. Who really wants to sit around a table with people you barely know and talk logistics for an hour? The fact that most of us begin our meetings by staring at our phones can answer that question: nobody.
Starting my internship with Swift Kick has shown me that meetings can be places of astounding creativity, community building, and energizing productivity. Our Swift Kick team meets every work day, and I look forward to the meetings as highlights of my entire week. Thanks to Swift Kick and other great meetings I’ve been a part of, I’ve got 6 tips to make the meetings you host more meaningful. You can find even more tips at https://hartfordrents.com/blog/how-to-take-good-meeting-minutes!
Give people the chance to enter like a rockstar
Play music! Open up your favorite music player, pick a Top 40 playlist, and let everyone jam as they’re walking in. Music is a great connector and conversation-starter. Even if you don’t like Justin Bieber, who can resist belting out one of his catchy choruses? Music also gives people a chance to ask their neighbors questions without feeling like all eyes (and ears) are on them.
Get the creative juices flowing
Give your team a chance to think outside the box at the beginning of your meetings. Then, throughout the rest of the meeting, they’re already flexing their creative muscles. This could be as simple as letting people brainstorm for 10 seconds about their favorite cereals, or it could be a full-on icebreaker. You could even have a look at something like a Writey stickon whiteboard to really encourage as much creativity as possible from your team. One creative energizer I took part in recently had everyone go around in a circle making up a word that doesn’t exist in any dictionary for the next person in the sequence to try to define. It was hilarious and so much fun–a great way to start a meeting!
Don’t apologize for getting down to business
Saying sorry for needing to get serious automatically makes everyone dread whatever is about to come out of your mouth. Imagine someone you look up to standing at the front of the room saying, “I know you’re going to hate hearing this, but…” How would you feel? I know I’d tune out immediately. Spare yourself your audience’s groans of agony by keeping your energy up throughout the more information-heavy parts of your meetings. This is what they came for, after all.
Be predictable, but switch it up every once in a while
Stick to a schedule–nobody wants to waste their time because the person leading the meeting has no idea what’s supposed to happen next. Create an agenda of sorts to keep everyone on track. Beware of staying too rigid, though! If your teammates can guess every sentence that’s about to come out of your mouth half a second before you say it, you’ve gone too far into the structure of the meeting and not far enough into the fun of it. Keep your teammates on their toes by adjusting small aspects of your meetings every now and again.
Give other people a chance to lead the meetings
Have you noticed someone who is extra eager to answer all of your questions? On the flip side, have you seen some less-than-enthused faces on some of your teammates? Save your voice and give air time to other people in your team. They could greatly appreciate a chance to lead, and their leadership style will differ from your own, keeping meetings fresh and fun.
Create a system of accountability
There is nothing more frustrating than coming into a meeting not knowing what you were supposed to accomplish since the last meeting you had because nobody delegated tasks or wrote anything down. Keep track of meetings by assigning one person to take notes. You can switch who does this each meeting if nobody jumps at the chance to keep meeting minutes.
Additionally, be specific about the 5W’s when assigning tasks: who, what, when, where, and why. For example, Don’t simply say, “Can somebody here contact so-and-so for me?” Instead, say, “Hey John, I’d like you to contact so-and-so by the end of the day about the project we discussed earlier so that we know whether or not we can host the event that is planned on the same day. CC me on the email you send.”
By giving the task to someone specific, nobody is left guessing at who is going to do it. John now knows who he is supposed to contact, how he is supposed to contact them, what he is supposed to say, and when he should have this task completed. You will also know whether or not John completed the task because you asked him to CC you on the email. By rephrasing one sentence, you have a nearly foolproof way of accomplishing tasks.
Meetings don’t have to be boring. There are ways to host meetings to add fun and creativity to your productivity. Instead of succumbing to the negative mindset that meetings are always terrible, try using the tips above to spice up your meetings and make the most out of your time together with your team.
