How To Create An Engaging Conference – Meeting Ideas

Findings Show That Board Meetings are Very Boring

Workplace meetings are an important part of the corporate fabric. In fact meetings take up 40million hours each week. So with so much time being spent on them, surely it’s important that they are effective.

According to a survey of 2,000 working adults by electronics firm Sharp, these meetings are far from effective in many cases. In fact 7.5million of those hours are deemed a waste of time.

It is crucial that delegates stay alert and engaged so they can absorb and remember the key points of the meeting, and yet one in eight have fallen asleep in meetings. More than half have seen a colleague’s head drop during the meeting and a third of us confess to drifting into a daydream.

And to avoid being caught falling asleep mid meeting, one in ten have made an excuse to leave a meeting because it is so boring and four in five think they would actually be more productive if they stayed at their desks instead.

Maybe you have also experienced such feelings in a meeting where you desperately wanted to stay alert but the tedium of the meeting eventually caught you out and you succumbed to tiredness.

Causes

So when identifying where the problem lies in these boring meetings there are some clear clues from this survey.

Six in ten workers say the meetings drag on too long; more than half blame the speaker for being boring; a fifth claim they have wanted to contribute to the discussion but weren’t given the opportunity; and two thirds of us think meetings involve one person talking for too long.

Solutions

People are often looking for meeting ideas to create an excellent session. But from the findings above clearly the key here is to use an engaging speaker, keep it as short and concise as possible, and allow group participation where possible.

We also find that bringing something fresh into the meeting can make a huge difference. Simple things like taking the workers away from the work environment can give them a fresh perspective and instantly engage them better.

Rock & Roll Experience also provide fantastic music ice breakers and energisers to help the meeting stay interesting. This can involve a short session at the start of a meeting which gets everyone awake, alert, and working together with music so they are ready for the meeting ahead.

It can also work very well half way through the day, when people start to feel mentally fatigued and they need to be picked up. Again, the lively music session can give them a fifteen minute boost which gets the adrenaline going and creates an excellent talking point, so they are engaged, enthused and ready for the remainder of the conference.

Call us today to discuss how we can boost your meetings.

“Was great for our needs – used up energy, and wasn’t too long for a session, everyone enjoyed it. Next morning, there were little groups chanting the rhythms and words of the songs/tunes they had done. A good session, enjoyed by all, including the leaders. I would certainly book again. I think you can chalk it up as a success!”

Glenda Greenfield. Projects and Events Manager – Hillingdon Council