What’s the matter with meetings? In survey after survey, people express disappointment in even mission-critical meetings such as town halls or leadership summits. Far too many meetings lack a clear purpose. They’re not well organized, and even when there is an agenda, people don’t stick to it. Meetings are frequently uninteresting and uninspiring. And, worst of all, they take too long—and don’t even end on time!
Here are five things NOT to do (and advice on how to take an alternative approach):
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Don’t:
Pick an unsuitable meeting room
Give yourself the right amount of room for what you want to accomplish: A small space to create a sense of closeness, or a big space to let participants stretch out and get active.
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Choose dull topics
Make an agenda that intrigues participants: Create a poll about potential topics and ask team members to rate interest, before the meeting.
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Drown in data
Instead, when presenting: Like any good drama (or comedy, for that matter), your presentation needs a story arc. Think about the structure of your presentation as a story, like this: First we faced this challenge. Then we decided to try this. When we did, we encountered this new obstacle. So we did this other thing. And here was the result. Success!
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Overwhelm with words
Try posting ideas: Use wall space to display thoughts, lists or other materials to help people connect with the content more readily.
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Talk the entire meeting
Create out-of-the-box interaction: After a presentation, use an exercise called “vote with your body” where participants move around the room to indicate their agreement with key statements.
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