Office meetings, management meetings, employees meetings – they aren’t just items on the schedule…they’re terms that can make most of us who’ve been there & done that cringe. If you’re a meeting organizer, maybe you’ve noticed meeting attendance is thin or interest in the material is all but non-existent.

As a presenter, employer or manager, how can you make meetings more successful? How can you present information & address issues effectively, increase attendance and improve morale? I’m going to share some meeting strategies I’ve learned from others & through research – along with some things I learned the hard way as a meeting organizer.

The Challenge of Turning Meetings Around

I’ve heard managers ask, “Why should I have to sugarcoat things?” when it comes to meetings. There’s an old saying to answer that: “you’ll always attract more flies with honey than with vinegar”. No matter what kind of meeting you’re having, undoubtedly, the end result you desire is to appeal to the people you’re meeting with.

As a manager, I had the challenge of changing the perception employees had about regular meetings from something dreaded to something they were happy to ‘be a part of’.

Previously, most of the staff would rather have a root canal than attend a meeting. Staff had to be present even if it was their day off but they weren’t paid for the meetings. Employees got a handout which was then read to them, followed by a lecture often lasting an hour or more and finally, a 1-2 minute pep-speech. Month after month, every bi-weekly meeting was almost identical to the others and the team was fed up. It was time to change things up!

Sound familiar at all? The great news is, dry, boring meetings is an issue that can be changed. If meetings have long been an issue and you’re in charge of those meetings, it might mean first changing how you think about meetings.

Here are some valuable tips & strategies that will really help turn things around in your meetings.

1. Make Meetings Voluntary

Something no one in the workplace likes to see or hear is the word ‘mandatory‘ before any kind of meeting. If you’re having a workplace meeting, ask people to be there and then compensate them for their time. A verbal “thank you” for attendance is always nice, too.

Reprimanding or embarrassing people for not attending has never had good results, so if you’d like a person to be at the next meeting, simply ask them. If you’re struggling with meeting attendance, it can help to let people know the importance of what will be covered, along with telling them you’ll have refreshments, drawings, etc. (see #4, below).

If you’re worried no one will show up for voluntary meetings, relax. Let everyone know the meeting style is changing & just give it time. When I took over the ‘mandatory meetings’, less than half of the staff typically showed up. A few weeks after making those meetings voluntary, we averaged 90% attendance!

2. Never Read A PowerPoint To Your Audience

This goes for handout materials as well as any heads-up presentation. It’s fine to explain, embellish or even narrate what appears on the screen in front of your captive audience but a meeting isn’t the setting to read to people word-for-word what’s already in front of them. If you must read something, make it something like a brief excerpt or very short story. There’s no better way to bore your audience to sleep than by reading to them.

3. Say No To Stats

If most of your staff would give you the honest answer, they’d tell you that all statistics are boring when they have to listen to them during a meeting. If you have handout material, put stats in the sidebar or a call-out box somewhere so people notice them…but can read them on their own.

4. Engage With Your Team

Some managers seem to be afraid of this. I’ve actually heard from a few that they feel open-forum settings or Q&A sessions cause chaos, distraction and loss of control over the meeting. Whatever the presenter is uncomfortable about can much more easily be dealt with by asking questions and honestly answering others than by avoiding it entirely.

Trust with your team grows when they see you are making a genuine effort to be honest and open with them. Ask people to come up with ideas & solutions to issues the organization is facing. Ask them what they feel needs improvement. Invite staff to approach you if they need to after the meeting.

5. Make It Fun!

Even if the subject matter is serious stuff, lighten the mood! If it’s in the budget, buy everyone lunch…and if things are tight financially, at least have coffee & donuts or something similar available for everyone as they come in to the meeting.

Have some upbeat music playing for the 5 minutes it takes everyone to come in, grab handouts & get seated. When the music stops, they’ll quiet down & look to the front of the room.

How about a theme from time to time – like a Hawaiian theme, adventure theme or Set-The-Marketing-World-On-Fire theme? Props from a dollar store aren’t going to cost much but they can have a ton of value when it comes to making a difference in your meeting.

A 5-minute game will add to any meeting’s interest, too. Have an old case of promotional items in the office closet? Give stuff away to the first few people to be seated or have a drawing for some cool swag.

In Short…

Think about the various aspects of organizing & presenting your meeting to identify anything negative, then turn it around to make it a positive. Don’t worry if it’s not ‘how things have always been done before’. If you’re looking for a better result than what you’ve had before, things need to be changed…even shaken up a bit!

It’s important to include everyone as much as possible, acknowledging them as individuals with needs & feelings. As a leader, be available for your people – be an advocate for them and they’ll follow you anywhere.

It may take a few meetings using new ideas for the word to get out that it’s not the same, dry, boring lecture time as before. Be patient, be creative and have fun!

My, oh my!

OK, I’m totally against the commercialization of Christmas. It’s really not about racing around to stores for the best deals, eating until we feel like popping and the endless stress of getting everything just right.

Why Christmas?

People from other faiths celebrate other holidays around this time of year, too. That’s awesome and I’m happy for them! But to be clear, I’m talking about Christmas, not to be confused with the other holidays. I’m not going to get into the entire history of wintertime holidays, but Christmas itself is about commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. Even the name comes from the words Christ’s Mass. It’s celebrated in December because that’s when scholars believe Christ was born, based on historical accounts of His conception in the spring.

It’s For Everyone

Granted, there are all kinds of people out there and even some Christian may not really have the true Christmas spirit.  But, I really don’t believe that the general consensus is to leave out non-Christians from Christmas. In fact, any true Christian will love and want to include all people in the celebration of Christmas. Jesus loved everyone and asked no less from us all.

It’s obvious that people who complain about being left out of Christmas because it’s called Christmas and because of what Christmas is about, want to somehow change the meaning of the holiday. Typically, it’s those people who aren’t religious themselves who seem to be uncomfortable with other people’s’ expression of spiritual belief.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Those who have the true spirit of the season want nothing more than to include everyone, regardless of race, religion or any other factor! I wouldn’t want to see anyone left out of Christmas – it’s a wonderful time of the year! I’ve had friends who are Buddhist, Jewish – even atheist, and they all have been gracious in giving & receiving Christmas gifts.

An atheist who feels left out for me celebrating what I believe in should get some solid beliefs of their own to celebrate – because atheism itself is non-belief in God or a higher divine power. Someone who doesn’t believe in God is going to have no hope or faith for anything after this worldly existence…and therefore, no reason to celebrate hope. It’s no wonder they would feel excluded – they’ve excluded themselves. 

Feeling Left Out?

My sincere, loving recommendation would be this: if you really feel left out of a Christian holiday because you don’t believe in God and Christ, then maybe you should re-examine that lack of belief or simply establish your own set of solid beliefs and then celebrate them. But don’t try to change the meaning of what I believe and celebrate because you don’t like it.

In his video, Penn Jillette also suggested we just call it “the holiday”. Well, doesn’t that just change Christmas if we don’t call it what it is?

It’s ridiculous to change Christmas so that people who believe differently aren’t uncomfortable. That’s someone imposing their beliefs on another person in an effort to change how they think and what they celebrate – just so as not to feel left out. I have nothing against atheists but I don’t think the same way they do. I believe in God in Heaven with all of my soul – and in His son, Jesus Christ.

A Welcome To All

I believe we help others feel comfortable by respecting their individual beliefs, loving them as fellow human souls and welcoming them all to share in the joy of Christmas!

So Penn, no one is forcing you to not have your joy. To my knowledge, no one is excluding you from Christmas. In fact, I’d love to include you for Christmas, even welcoming you into my humble home and would want you to bring your joy along! I’d welcome everyone. We may not have a huge tree or tons of fancy food to feast on but we practice love & understanding. In my home we believe in God and Jesus Christ, discuss the story of His birth and life, then give thanks in prayer before Christmas dinner.

This time of year is special to billions or people around the world for various reasons. It’s a time to forget segregation and denomination, expressing brotherhood with everyone. Though we may live under different roofs or decorate differently, we all came from the same place and now share the same planet as our home.

From my heart to yours, I wish you a very merry Christmas!

Whether or not you recognize the need in yourself and others, the need for understanding is vitally important in any relationship and to all people. Cole explains this basic principle & gives tips on how to strengthen your ability to understand others in this podcast.

It’s the largest, busiest, grandest, save-the-most(est) shopping day of the entire year – or so we’re told. People are lining up outside of stores before their Thanksgiving dinner has even been digested to scurry in and battle the crowds to take advantage of this extravaganza, which is no more than commercial gluttony.

Stores make their employees leave home & family in the middle of the night to come man the battlements, so to speak, in preparation for the enormous crowds of shoppers. Police are on hand to maintain control at “door buster” sales, yet each year, we see news stories of people who’ve been trampled & even killed by fellow deal seekers! Sounds fun, eh? But wait! What was it we were just celebrating?

Black Friday is the iconoclasm of Thanksgiving.

Are we really supposed to humbly reflect on & express our deep gratitude one day and then switch to the complete opposite extreme the next day in order to save a few dollars?

Sure, I know there are great deals out there on Black Friday and people can be “thankful” for saving money. But it seems that Black Friday is has almost become the anti-Thanksgiving with all the commercialism and the general mindset surrounding this frenzied shopping.

Thankfulness is a attitude essential to abundance and a key part of positive thinking. Giving thanks in our heart & minds, as well as expressing it to those around us should happen every day – not just one day each year.

Going beyond expressing thanks to others as a matter of courtesy or kindness, we need to constantly have in our minds what we are thankful for. So, as a friendly reminder; make an extra effort to keep that feeling and mindset of giving & gratitude as you’re out doing holiday shopping & planning for festivities.

Stress & commercialism this time of year can take away from the real meaning of what we’re commemorating during these magical, special holidays. Embrace the bounty that life has to offer you …which can only come after having gratitude. Begin the day with thanks each morning. Express it to those around you. And good luck if you’re out shopping this weekend.

Click the play button to listen:

Many different things make each of us happy. We have dreams, hopes, desires and things we really enjoy spending our time doing. Even if we had all the financial wealth in the world and whatever we could buy with it, that never can buy true happiness.

True happiness doesn’t even come by giving money away – but through giving of ourselves; our time, energy, understanding, compassion and inspiration.

Have you ever heard this before? That people don’t or can’t change? Well, it’s time to put that myth to rest – just like that one about the Earth being flat.

Change Is All Around

The world around us is in a state of constant change. It’s the same with every person on the planet. Whether it’s growth, progress, maturing, aging, growing in knowledge, regressing or falling into a state of decay, everything is changing. Nothing is stagnant or stale (though it may seem to be to those of us who are impatient). I’ve always thought of this as some kind of law of the universe.

The human mind and psyche are absolutely limitless in their power and potential. We can imagine anything we choose to, calculate complex problems, create world renowned orchestrations and the technology to land men on other planets. Granted, with all the capability & potential our minds have built-in, personal change seems to be one of the most challenging things for us to wrap our heads around. Leo Tolstoy once said, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself”. But change isn’t always conscious or something we’ve planned out ahead of time.

Productive, purposeful change requires planning and the effort to move forward in progress. Since we cannot remain in stasis (a state of suspension or standing still in every way), if we aren’t making progress we’re regressing. Anything not growing is in a state of decay and the same goes for our minds, our emotional state…everything about us.

Key To Successful Change

Change is eternal, universal and inevitable. We can’t avoid it, no matter how uncomfortable it may be at times. To resist change is a futile waste of our time and energy, usually leading to decay, frustration and depression.

So, like it or not, like everything else, people are constantly changing – for better or worse. The key to success is to be in conscious, purposeful control of that change, making it positive growth. And that’s a choice.

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