We’ve all been in meetings before that are boring, and that time seems to stand still almost when we’re in it. However, not every business meeting has to be the same, and there are certainly plenty of ways that you can make it enjoyable for you and your fellow staff members. If you’re someone who attends or leads a lot of business meetings, then you might want to follow these tips to make your business meetings more enjoyable. That way, you can go into each meeting with a positive outlook of what lies ahead.
Change Your Meeting Space When You Can
The same four walls can certainly be boring to look at, and even though you might have dedicated spaces to hold your meetings, you don’t need to use them every time. It can be good to switch up the meeting space because it means you and your colleagues don’t always have to share that same space every time, and having a differenced space might spark up some creativity or get the meeting moving a lot quicker as a result. Take a look at what’s around you and what might be worth utilizing as a space to hold a meeting. You could take it outside the business property by having your meeting in a public place or seeing what other venues are available for you to hire for those extra special meetings.
By changing up the space every now and then, it gives your meetings more variety and makes them visually more interesting by having a new environment to be in. It’s not healthy to be in the same space every time.
Incorporate Some Food
Food is definitely something you want to consider when it comes to meetings, especially when they’re longer than an hour or so. With the right box catering service, you can provide an opportunity for you and your colleagues to refuel, as well as anyone externally that might be attending too. It’s helpful to give yourselves a break and to socialize over food. It can be a good opportunity to do some casual networking and to create a more relaxed environment. Everyone knows that the way to many people’s hearts is through their stomach, so try to incorporate some food every now and then.
It doesn’t need to be anything too extravagant, even if it’s a few breakfast bits for morning meetings, it’s going to set everyone up for the day.
Make It A Group Conversation
With some meetings, it might typically be led by the one person or perhaps two or three. However, when it comes to meetings, it can be pretty boring to just sit there and have no involvement other than listening. Sometimes there can be a need to speak up and be vocal about certain topics that are being discussed. It’s good to get a group conversation going because that can also make it more interesting. Having to listen to the same person’s voice for hours on end might not be the best way to engage with those in the room. It’s worth looking at ways of how you can involve others, without it needing to be all one or two people to talk for the whole meeting.
Get Creative With Presentations
Your presentations are something that can get dull very easily, and that’s because many of us aren’t very creative with it. We tend to just want to relay the information across to all those involved, but why not try and make it more interesting. Use what little you have when it comes to creativity or if you’re someone who is creative, use it to create a better slideshow or visual presentation. Get slide transition happy on Microsoft PowerPoint and make the most of showing different visual content, whether it’s videos or audio where necessary. Presentations are an important part of a business meeting, but you don’t want it to be the reason that people are falling asleep in your meetings!
Keep Them As Short As Possible
Meetings are necessary for business but not all meetings need to be lengthy. It can take up a lot of time when you’re holding meetings all over the place. It’s important to find the balance of having just enough time within the meeting to get everything said and done. For those meetings that run on for hours and hours, you’re only going to delay the work progress that needs to get done. Try to find ways of keeping your meetings as short as possible, and that way you can get on with other work that needs to be done. You don’t want to start making a habit of dragging meetings out, especially if it involves conversations about things that aren’t relevant to the meeting itself.
Take Regular Breaks
Some meetings are long, and although it would be great to get through it in one sitting, people need refreshments and toilet breaks. When setting out the layout and plan for the meeting, include regular breaks where necessary. It can be a good opportunity for people to stretch their legs, make a drink, and to reset their batteries ready for the next leg of the meeting. If you’re not offering regular breaks, then people are going to get bored, and they’ll find themselves drifting in and out of concentration. If you’ve got a meeting going on for three hours, try to break every hour for 10 or 15 minutes. This gives everyone enough time to do what they need to do to get back to where they’re focused.
Making your business meetings more enjoyable can often be a challenge, particularly when some topics of conversation are duller than others. Try to do your best in engaging the room in different ways and using your creativity to make it better. Take regular breaks to help people become more focused and try to keep meetings as short as possible. Involve more people into the discussion where you can and mix up the meeting space every now and then.
