Many companies do not have conference rooms or big spaces to hold corporate meetings. They opt for corporate meeting facilities provided by others for this. A corporate meeting facility is generally a luxurious and impressive space which can be rented by any company to hold their corporate meetings.
Renting a Corporate Meeting Facility
Large or small corporations often require having meetings for their staff for orientation or felicitations or educational purposes or for clients. Many of these companies may not have an adequate corporate meeting space to hold such meetings. Renting is the only option in such cases. Before renting out a space a proper idea regarding the requirement is very important. The size of the gathering and the kind of seating arrangements all depends on the purpose of the meeting. Once a clear picture regarding this is arrived at, a corporate meeting facility can be looked into. In major cities across the United States, there are huge varieties to choose from when it comes to an event space. Many city meeting facilities range from lofts, theaters, screening rooms, auditoriums, convention center and so on. These places could be stand alone or a part of a hotel or a bigger structure.
After identifying a few possible venues, it would be a good idea to visit them along with your chosen corporate meeting production specialist and see for one the space available and also discuss about the facilities provided at the place. Many halls provide digital screens, presentation software and hardware, high speed internet facility, good acoustics and other audio visual facilities which in most cases are far more expensive than having your own corporate meeting production specialist whose expertise can make sure you get the most for your dollar without comprising the quality of your corporate meeting production. In order to receive your best ROI you should always have your corporate meeting production specialist with you on these inspections. This is to make sure that you will not be caught unaware of any back end charges when utilizing there facility. The extent of the facilities required again depends on the type of event being hosted. The location of the conference space is also an important criterion. Easy accessibility and proximity to airports and hotels always helps if people are flying in from outside to participate in the event. Other arrangements that need to be looked into are toilet facilities provided in the space. The cost of the meeting space also needs to be looked into before renting out. Some places are highly expensive while others are relatively cheaper.
Most of the corporate meeting facilities seen these days have well trained staff. They make all the necessary arrangements in consultation with the renters and who also provide valuable assistance during the event. Together with these staff members the event can be made into a grand success. Choosing a place that provides it all from digital media to caterers is always better than going for a place where all the other elements have to be brought in from outside.
Always remember to be sure to consult your corporate meeting production company in order to exceed your corporate meeting expectations and to make sure you get the best ROI for your meeting.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Make Youself Accessible
Make yourself accessible - importance of returning calls and responding to messages
What's more annoying than having to leave a message for some you urgently need to contact
Having that message go unanswered, or how about taking at executive up on her invite to call, only to find out she's about as accessible as Fort Knox? Barriers like these are not only frustrating, but commonplace in professional exchanges. But they can also kill important relationships if they become chronic. Don't underestimate the necessity of being reachable.
We're all busy. Meetings, deadlines and correspondence leave many of barely enough time to breathe, alone to interact with contacts clients. But making time to avail yourself to others is something only you can
"Your time is your own”, so take charge and determine your own priorities. Making yourself accessible should be one of those priorities.
If your goal is to attract business or build working relationships, not returning messages or hibernating behind closed doors won't win you many takers. But, for those times when you're unavailable, you can employ some reliable substitutes to pinch-hit for you.
A capable assistant is one. By all means, utilize him to run interference for you when you're busy. Trained correctly, he can answer callers' queries, schedule your appointments, elicit detailed messages or prioritize urgent calls requiring your immediate attention, says management consultant Alec Mackenzie. This can significantly shorten that daunting pile of message slips.
No assistant? Your answering machine, voice mail, E-mail or beeper can serve as surrogates, but not if you don't retrieve and respond to your messages regularly. If callers know you routinely check in, they'll be more apt to settle for communicating with you this way.
By setting aside a specific time of day to return calls and address correspondence, you can keep them from snowballing. "Many people like to do this right after lunch and again toward the end of the day," since that's when they're at their desks, says Mackenzie.
If you're on the sending - rather than receiving - end of the connecting game, there's a lot you can do to make sure you reach your intended party. Leave detailed messages that explain the purpose of your call, even if the person might already know. Keep your business cards updated to reflect current information. Make good on those invites to "do lunch," dinner or tea. We're all busy enough. Making it hard for someone to get in touch with shouldn't be added to the pile.
A thought to remember every phone call you don’t return or every email you don’t reply to could be a lost opportunity you can never regain.
What's more annoying than having to leave a message for some you urgently need to contact
Having that message go unanswered, or how about taking at executive up on her invite to call, only to find out she's about as accessible as Fort Knox? Barriers like these are not only frustrating, but commonplace in professional exchanges. But they can also kill important relationships if they become chronic. Don't underestimate the necessity of being reachable.
We're all busy. Meetings, deadlines and correspondence leave many of barely enough time to breathe, alone to interact with contacts clients. But making time to avail yourself to others is something only you can
"Your time is your own”, so take charge and determine your own priorities. Making yourself accessible should be one of those priorities.
If your goal is to attract business or build working relationships, not returning messages or hibernating behind closed doors won't win you many takers. But, for those times when you're unavailable, you can employ some reliable substitutes to pinch-hit for you.
A capable assistant is one. By all means, utilize him to run interference for you when you're busy. Trained correctly, he can answer callers' queries, schedule your appointments, elicit detailed messages or prioritize urgent calls requiring your immediate attention, says management consultant Alec Mackenzie. This can significantly shorten that daunting pile of message slips.
No assistant? Your answering machine, voice mail, E-mail or beeper can serve as surrogates, but not if you don't retrieve and respond to your messages regularly. If callers know you routinely check in, they'll be more apt to settle for communicating with you this way.
By setting aside a specific time of day to return calls and address correspondence, you can keep them from snowballing. "Many people like to do this right after lunch and again toward the end of the day," since that's when they're at their desks, says Mackenzie.
If you're on the sending - rather than receiving - end of the connecting game, there's a lot you can do to make sure you reach your intended party. Leave detailed messages that explain the purpose of your call, even if the person might already know. Keep your business cards updated to reflect current information. Make good on those invites to "do lunch," dinner or tea. We're all busy enough. Making it hard for someone to get in touch with shouldn't be added to the pile.
A thought to remember every phone call you don’t return or every email you don’t reply to could be a lost opportunity you can never regain.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Time Management – Something We Can all Appreciate
Do you find that you the days just fly by and you feel like you haven’t accomplished much? Personally I feel like this more days than I care to admit. Trying to manage home, work, children and their activities is like being the circus juggler. When I finally get a moment of quiet, which is a rare occasion I make an attempt at organizing my life. The old adage of making lists has helped me become organized and accomplish more than expected. Here are a few tips and or tricks that have worked for me:
1. At the beginning of the week, take five minutes (preferably in the morning when everyone else is sleeping) and make yourself a list of tasks you need to accomplish by the end of the week. Keep the list with you at all times, don’t just leave it on top of the kitchen counter or on your desk.
2. Daily lists puts too much stress, you worry more on how you’re going to finish everything you have to do and evidently not get anything done at all.
3. After you’ve written your list, look it over and make every attempt to prioritize it. Usually I start by counting how many phone calls I need to make and then take an hour or two, sit at my desk and make all the calls in one shot. This is usually quite successful, although sometimes you may have to do it on two separate days, depending on the follow up calls needed.
4. Then, after the calls, go over your list again and review all the things that you are sure won’t take but a few minutes to complete. Do those next. After those are done, look at your list and see how much you have accomplished thus far and start feeling good.
5. Finally, do the more time consuming tasks by order of priority.
6. Cross things out as you complete the task and also add things to the list as the days go by. You’ll notice that as the week passes if you started with 15 tasks to accomplish, by the end of the week you’ll have, maybe 15 or more added to it. This is normal, and if this doesn’t happen, you really did not have much to do.
7. By the end of the week, take that wrinkled, ripped, messy paper you call a list and review it. You’ll be surprised how much you’ve actually accomplished and pat yourself on the back. Just don’t worry if there are tasks left undone, there’s always next week.
8. Any left-over tasks get transferred to the next week’s tasks. And try to do those first on the following week, or else you’ll start stressing and say that lists don’t work, bunch the paper up in a wad and throw it away. Then you go back to being your old self, stressing over everything you have to do and get nothing done.
I know like any good plan there are those unexpected interruptions, or else it wouldn’t be called life.
1. At the beginning of the week, take five minutes (preferably in the morning when everyone else is sleeping) and make yourself a list of tasks you need to accomplish by the end of the week. Keep the list with you at all times, don’t just leave it on top of the kitchen counter or on your desk.
2. Daily lists puts too much stress, you worry more on how you’re going to finish everything you have to do and evidently not get anything done at all.
3. After you’ve written your list, look it over and make every attempt to prioritize it. Usually I start by counting how many phone calls I need to make and then take an hour or two, sit at my desk and make all the calls in one shot. This is usually quite successful, although sometimes you may have to do it on two separate days, depending on the follow up calls needed.
4. Then, after the calls, go over your list again and review all the things that you are sure won’t take but a few minutes to complete. Do those next. After those are done, look at your list and see how much you have accomplished thus far and start feeling good.
5. Finally, do the more time consuming tasks by order of priority.
6. Cross things out as you complete the task and also add things to the list as the days go by. You’ll notice that as the week passes if you started with 15 tasks to accomplish, by the end of the week you’ll have, maybe 15 or more added to it. This is normal, and if this doesn’t happen, you really did not have much to do.
7. By the end of the week, take that wrinkled, ripped, messy paper you call a list and review it. You’ll be surprised how much you’ve actually accomplished and pat yourself on the back. Just don’t worry if there are tasks left undone, there’s always next week.
8. Any left-over tasks get transferred to the next week’s tasks. And try to do those first on the following week, or else you’ll start stressing and say that lists don’t work, bunch the paper up in a wad and throw it away. Then you go back to being your old self, stressing over everything you have to do and get nothing done.
I know like any good plan there are those unexpected interruptions, or else it wouldn’t be called life.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The Importance of Meetings and Incentive Programs in a Down Economy
Penny Wise and Pound Foolish
Historically, incentive programs and meetings have been the early victims of economic downturns. In the current economy it has impacted the industry, there are reports of cancellations, delayed plans, and general cutbacks. With that as background, it is wise to restate the need for continued use of incentives and meetings even if on a somewhat contained basis.
Some managers react to these situations by immediately cutting all “unnecessary” expenses without looking at bottom line impact. “Unnecessary” becomes a very subjective evaluation. Others assess the value of each program before deciding the reasonable course of action.
There are now numerous studies that show a very definite relationship between motivation, the work environment, and bottom line profits. Satisfied workers produce at a higher, more efficient rate. The management dictum that employees are satisfied just to have a job in difficult times has long been disproven. Keeping employees and customers satisfied especially in difficult times is the basis of reaping healthy profits.
Keeping your employees engaged and giving them the feeling of being part of the team and appreciated will help them with the mental stress and will improve their outlook. An employee with a positive attitude is just as contagious in improving morale in the workplace as a disgruntled employee is in destroying morale.
In the book, “Contented Cows Give Better Milk”, the authors compared business results of companies considered employers of choice with a comparable group of Fortune 500 companies. (An employer of choice is a company that is primarily people-driven.) Although the Employers of Choice had about 1/3 of the revenue of the others at the start of the study, over a 10-year period (one that included a recession), they:
Outperformed the latter about four to one in revenues,
Increased net income 202% vs. 139%,
Roughly doubled the net income of the latter group,
Added 79,000 jobs while the latter LOST 61,000 jobs.
The point: simply that a motivated, committed work force --- one that continues to be recognized by incentive programs that reward excellent performance --- continues to achieve growth while others stagnate.
Using these programs correctly is a competitive advantage, especially under difficult economic conditions. Measuring the success of incentive programs and meetings – whether return on investment (ROI) or return on objectives (ROO) or anything else – is the best way to show the value. Measurement as a tool for planners and business leaders is essential at all times. It addresses requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the need to demonstrate results to management, and, often, the justification for one’s job.
Both incentive suppliers and corporate planners say that they are increasingly asked for data related to measuring program results. ROI analysis also helps a company determine the impact of an incentive program across the entire operation, something that is crucial to avoiding long-term problems.
According to the MPI Foundation, “…ROI is THE single most important tool for a meeting professional. In today’s economy, with more and more meeting professionals answering to their Procurement office, the emphasis on ROI has never been more important.”
Employee Incentive Programs reward exceptional employees for reaching work goals, achieving milestones or simply doing a good job. These types of programs are designed to offer incentive and motivation in employees and increasing the overall performance of the company. An incentive program is a great way to show employees that you value their input while at the same time increasing your business potential.
Historically, incentive programs and meetings have been the early victims of economic downturns. In the current economy it has impacted the industry, there are reports of cancellations, delayed plans, and general cutbacks. With that as background, it is wise to restate the need for continued use of incentives and meetings even if on a somewhat contained basis.
Some managers react to these situations by immediately cutting all “unnecessary” expenses without looking at bottom line impact. “Unnecessary” becomes a very subjective evaluation. Others assess the value of each program before deciding the reasonable course of action.
There are now numerous studies that show a very definite relationship between motivation, the work environment, and bottom line profits. Satisfied workers produce at a higher, more efficient rate. The management dictum that employees are satisfied just to have a job in difficult times has long been disproven. Keeping employees and customers satisfied especially in difficult times is the basis of reaping healthy profits.
Keeping your employees engaged and giving them the feeling of being part of the team and appreciated will help them with the mental stress and will improve their outlook. An employee with a positive attitude is just as contagious in improving morale in the workplace as a disgruntled employee is in destroying morale.
In the book, “Contented Cows Give Better Milk”, the authors compared business results of companies considered employers of choice with a comparable group of Fortune 500 companies. (An employer of choice is a company that is primarily people-driven.) Although the Employers of Choice had about 1/3 of the revenue of the others at the start of the study, over a 10-year period (one that included a recession), they:
Outperformed the latter about four to one in revenues,
Increased net income 202% vs. 139%,
Roughly doubled the net income of the latter group,
Added 79,000 jobs while the latter LOST 61,000 jobs.
The point: simply that a motivated, committed work force --- one that continues to be recognized by incentive programs that reward excellent performance --- continues to achieve growth while others stagnate.
Using these programs correctly is a competitive advantage, especially under difficult economic conditions. Measuring the success of incentive programs and meetings – whether return on investment (ROI) or return on objectives (ROO) or anything else – is the best way to show the value. Measurement as a tool for planners and business leaders is essential at all times. It addresses requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the need to demonstrate results to management, and, often, the justification for one’s job.
Both incentive suppliers and corporate planners say that they are increasingly asked for data related to measuring program results. ROI analysis also helps a company determine the impact of an incentive program across the entire operation, something that is crucial to avoiding long-term problems.
According to the MPI Foundation, “…ROI is THE single most important tool for a meeting professional. In today’s economy, with more and more meeting professionals answering to their Procurement office, the emphasis on ROI has never been more important.”
Employee Incentive Programs reward exceptional employees for reaching work goals, achieving milestones or simply doing a good job. These types of programs are designed to offer incentive and motivation in employees and increasing the overall performance of the company. An incentive program is a great way to show employees that you value their input while at the same time increasing your business potential.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Off-Site Meetings....A New Perception
Although the perception of off-site meetings is a big concern, the intense scrutiny the industry experienced in 2009 will continue to influence how meetings and events are designed in 2010. Budgets will remain tight, there still will be fewer perks for attendees, and planners will continue to downscale F&B, entertainment and activity expenditures.
But some planners may be facing a different, and more intimidating, challenge: Making the case to reinstate meetings that were canceled due to the economy. And, although there has been a lot of talk about small growth,” there is a very real possibility that the economy will take years to rebound. But that doesn’t mean that companies should continue to cancel meetings.
“Tough times are a great time to renew trust, “Leadership Matters. “When employees see the leadership team standing front and center and delivering the message, it demonstrates that management cares about them and considers them essential to weathering the storm. Canceling such meetings sends the message that employees are expendable.”
The value of face-to-face meetings, show that business executives support the need to meet and illustrate the dangers of not bringing employees and company leaders together. They offer great talking points planners can use in discussing why meetings should be reinstated as soon as possible.
“In order to grow, businesses have to invest”. Face-to-face meetings and incentive awards to top performers are among the smartest investments companies can make.
During the recession, the use of technology-enhanced and other virtual meeting alternatives has skyrocketed, so Forbes conducted an insight study with more than 750 businesses this past summer to see if Web conferences, videoconferences and other virtual meetings could replace the need to meet face-to-face.
• More than 8 out of 10 of the executives said they prefer face-to-face contact to virtual meetings.
• The top three reasons those executives preferred face-to-face meetings were because they build stronger, more meaningful business relationships (85 percent); give them the ability to read body language and facial expressions (77 percent); and there’s more social interaction and ability to bond with co-workers and clients (75 percent).
• The less than 20 percent who favored technology-enhanced meetings did so because it saves time (92 percent); saves money (88 percent); and offers more flexibility in location and timing.
• When asked to choose the meeting method most conducive to fostering specific business actions or outcomes, executives overwhelmingly preferred face-to-face meetings for achieving almost every business objective, including persuasion (91 percent), leadership (87 percent), engagement (87 percent), inspiration (85 percent), decision making (82 percent), accountability (79 percent), brainstorming (73 percent) and strategy (73 percent).
• Web conferences were preferred only for data presentation (44 percent) and information dissemination (43 percent), although it held less than a 10 percent margin over face-to-face meeting in those two areas. Roughly 27 percent favored teleconferences for matters of urgency, but otherwise, the percentage of executives preferring the use of teleconferences or videoconferences to achieve business objectives was negligible.
• 87 percent of the executives agreed with the statement “There are tangible business benefits to in-person; face-to-face meetings that outweigh the cost savings of alternative, technology-based meeting methods such as web conferencing or videoconferencing.”
“People don’t want to sit in their office looking at each other on computer screens. That personal interaction — getting together to talk over dinner, drinks or a cup of coffee — is the foundation on which business relationships are built. It’s what drives business, builds employee morale, and gives real incentives for higher productivity.
But some planners may be facing a different, and more intimidating, challenge: Making the case to reinstate meetings that were canceled due to the economy. And, although there has been a lot of talk about small growth,” there is a very real possibility that the economy will take years to rebound. But that doesn’t mean that companies should continue to cancel meetings.
“Tough times are a great time to renew trust, “Leadership Matters. “When employees see the leadership team standing front and center and delivering the message, it demonstrates that management cares about them and considers them essential to weathering the storm. Canceling such meetings sends the message that employees are expendable.”
The value of face-to-face meetings, show that business executives support the need to meet and illustrate the dangers of not bringing employees and company leaders together. They offer great talking points planners can use in discussing why meetings should be reinstated as soon as possible.
“In order to grow, businesses have to invest”. Face-to-face meetings and incentive awards to top performers are among the smartest investments companies can make.
During the recession, the use of technology-enhanced and other virtual meeting alternatives has skyrocketed, so Forbes conducted an insight study with more than 750 businesses this past summer to see if Web conferences, videoconferences and other virtual meetings could replace the need to meet face-to-face.
• More than 8 out of 10 of the executives said they prefer face-to-face contact to virtual meetings.
• The top three reasons those executives preferred face-to-face meetings were because they build stronger, more meaningful business relationships (85 percent); give them the ability to read body language and facial expressions (77 percent); and there’s more social interaction and ability to bond with co-workers and clients (75 percent).
• The less than 20 percent who favored technology-enhanced meetings did so because it saves time (92 percent); saves money (88 percent); and offers more flexibility in location and timing.
• When asked to choose the meeting method most conducive to fostering specific business actions or outcomes, executives overwhelmingly preferred face-to-face meetings for achieving almost every business objective, including persuasion (91 percent), leadership (87 percent), engagement (87 percent), inspiration (85 percent), decision making (82 percent), accountability (79 percent), brainstorming (73 percent) and strategy (73 percent).
• Web conferences were preferred only for data presentation (44 percent) and information dissemination (43 percent), although it held less than a 10 percent margin over face-to-face meeting in those two areas. Roughly 27 percent favored teleconferences for matters of urgency, but otherwise, the percentage of executives preferring the use of teleconferences or videoconferences to achieve business objectives was negligible.
• 87 percent of the executives agreed with the statement “There are tangible business benefits to in-person; face-to-face meetings that outweigh the cost savings of alternative, technology-based meeting methods such as web conferencing or videoconferencing.”
“People don’t want to sit in their office looking at each other on computer screens. That personal interaction — getting together to talk over dinner, drinks or a cup of coffee — is the foundation on which business relationships are built. It’s what drives business, builds employee morale, and gives real incentives for higher productivity.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Meetings That Deliver
Every great off-site meeting should have well crafted objectives that the top leadership team is committed to achieving. The off-site objectives should drive every other decision about the off-site meeting. They will influence the location, how many days, who will attend, and how much preparation time and resources you will need. So get started early, ideally 3-4 months before the meeting. Keep in mind your venue site; some companies book their venues 1+ years in advance.
Leaders sometimes underestimate what an important, and potentially defining, leadership moment such off-site meetings can be – for better or for worse! Invited participants assume that everything that happens, everything on the agenda, is there because the most senior leaders wanted it there. They expect to hear from the senior leaders, and they often are interested in the senior leaders’ reactions to what happens and what is discussed at the meeting. Be sure your senior leaders appreciate both the opportunities and risks that such meetings present. And be sure to design the meeting in such a way as to help them make the most of their leadership moments.
Meetings that have impact engage people - their minds and their hearts. Think of the few off-sites you’ve been to that really made a difference, off-sites that truly accelerated lasting, positive changes in your company or organization. What happened? Chances are that these meetings demonstrated a few important meeting design principles.
Get Creative, there are dozens of effective and engaging ways to accomplish off-site objectives - clustering people in smaller discussion groups, electronic “secret ballot” surveying, hands-on projects that help drive home key points and build relationships, panel discussion formats, customer speakers, and so on. Of course, the choice of methods is guided by your specific off-site meeting objectives and the design principles above. No matter how “cool” the method is, it has to be a “best choice” to serve off-site objectives and design principles. Splashy methods can make a meeting memorable; they are only worthwhile if they are created to delivering on the meeting objectives. Charisma Productions Network can help you develop what it takes in order to get your meeting objectives met and exceeding all of your expectations.
Off-site Meeting Design Principles
Connection before Content: People are encouraged to “connect” with each other, informally and personally. This happens early and often. If the meeting participants are to do any “real work” with each other at the off-site (e.g. make new organizational arrangements, commit resources, etc.), this foundation of personal connection is essential.
Conversations, not lectures: There is lots of conversation, and little lecture. The core principle here is that people typically learn more, and change more, when they have to formulate and express their ideas, not just listen to the ideas of others.
The right people: The “right” people are in the room. Building and paring the invite list for most off-sites is a challenge, and invariably additional people get added for political reasons. But be sure that enough of the right people are there – the ones with the knowledge, the power, and the influence to accomplish the meeting objectives - and the ability to bring the rest of the organization along with the new direction when they return to work. Be careful not to dilute the meeting with too many who are not well positioned to help.
An off-site is more than a list of agenda items: There is a coherent arc to the meeting, an overall story line. Each step of the meeting builds toward the next step, serving the overall objectives and deliverables. You get the sense that it is well choreographed, that there is a good reason for everything that is on the agenda.
The “how” says volumes about the “what”: How the meeting is conducted is in sync with the messages delivered at the meeting. For instance, if the message is that senior management wants ideas and input from the next levels of management, then lots of time at the meeting must be devoted to eliciting ideas, and demonstrating that (at least some of) the ideas will be acted upon. It isn’t, “55 minutes of slides with 5 minutes of Q&A.” Careful design helps the meeting itself “walk the talk.”
The off-site began before it started, and finished well after it ended: There is pre-work and communication that prepares you to be most effective in your time together and there is follow-up after the off-site that helps assure that things committed to at the off-site are accomplished and integrated into your on-going work.
Leaders sometimes underestimate what an important, and potentially defining, leadership moment such off-site meetings can be – for better or for worse! Invited participants assume that everything that happens, everything on the agenda, is there because the most senior leaders wanted it there. They expect to hear from the senior leaders, and they often are interested in the senior leaders’ reactions to what happens and what is discussed at the meeting. Be sure your senior leaders appreciate both the opportunities and risks that such meetings present. And be sure to design the meeting in such a way as to help them make the most of their leadership moments.
Meetings that have impact engage people - their minds and their hearts. Think of the few off-sites you’ve been to that really made a difference, off-sites that truly accelerated lasting, positive changes in your company or organization. What happened? Chances are that these meetings demonstrated a few important meeting design principles.
Get Creative, there are dozens of effective and engaging ways to accomplish off-site objectives - clustering people in smaller discussion groups, electronic “secret ballot” surveying, hands-on projects that help drive home key points and build relationships, panel discussion formats, customer speakers, and so on. Of course, the choice of methods is guided by your specific off-site meeting objectives and the design principles above. No matter how “cool” the method is, it has to be a “best choice” to serve off-site objectives and design principles. Splashy methods can make a meeting memorable; they are only worthwhile if they are created to delivering on the meeting objectives. Charisma Productions Network can help you develop what it takes in order to get your meeting objectives met and exceeding all of your expectations.
Off-site Meeting Design Principles
Connection before Content: People are encouraged to “connect” with each other, informally and personally. This happens early and often. If the meeting participants are to do any “real work” with each other at the off-site (e.g. make new organizational arrangements, commit resources, etc.), this foundation of personal connection is essential.
Conversations, not lectures: There is lots of conversation, and little lecture. The core principle here is that people typically learn more, and change more, when they have to formulate and express their ideas, not just listen to the ideas of others.
The right people: The “right” people are in the room. Building and paring the invite list for most off-sites is a challenge, and invariably additional people get added for political reasons. But be sure that enough of the right people are there – the ones with the knowledge, the power, and the influence to accomplish the meeting objectives - and the ability to bring the rest of the organization along with the new direction when they return to work. Be careful not to dilute the meeting with too many who are not well positioned to help.
An off-site is more than a list of agenda items: There is a coherent arc to the meeting, an overall story line. Each step of the meeting builds toward the next step, serving the overall objectives and deliverables. You get the sense that it is well choreographed, that there is a good reason for everything that is on the agenda.
The “how” says volumes about the “what”: How the meeting is conducted is in sync with the messages delivered at the meeting. For instance, if the message is that senior management wants ideas and input from the next levels of management, then lots of time at the meeting must be devoted to eliciting ideas, and demonstrating that (at least some of) the ideas will be acted upon. It isn’t, “55 minutes of slides with 5 minutes of Q&A.” Careful design helps the meeting itself “walk the talk.”
The off-site began before it started, and finished well after it ended: There is pre-work and communication that prepares you to be most effective in your time together and there is follow-up after the off-site that helps assure that things committed to at the off-site are accomplished and integrated into your on-going work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
