Ask anyone about workplace meetings and the most likely response is that it’s a complete waste of time. It’s typically an obligation that you as an employee must attend and where your boss has to schedule because that’s what they have to do.
Right?
But it doesn’t have to be like that. It doesn’t have to be an event where the boss can simple drone on or an excuse for employees to sit for half an hour doing nothing away from their work. Instead a meeting should become a brainstorming session.
Brainstorming instead of Boredom
Meetings must include information that employees can use but shouldn’t be dragged along. Keep it short and sweet–to the point. And then for the rest of the meeting reformulate it into a brainstorm session. Throw out a question, open the floor and do away with boredom.
Listen!
The awesome part of making a meeting into a brainstorming session is that you are involving your staff. You are actively asking them to be creative and to engage with each other. A lot of ideas won’t probably make it anywhere but that isn’t the point. As a boss you should give your employees an opportunity to explore ways to make the company better. Whatever it may be: how the company can become better with dealing with customer complaints or ways it can tackle a nagging problem.
One idea is all it takes
You don’t need to examine 100 ideas during the meeting-turned-brainstorm. All you need to do is identify one idea and vote on if it should be looked into and expanded. One good idea is all it takes to make it all worth it.
Implement the idea asap
It’s very important to put the idea into effect as quickly as possible. If you do you as well as the staff are actively testing the idea in the real world. It also gives employees a chance to see an idea that they thought of be put into play. By simply doing this you are telling them that their ideas matter and in turn they matter to the company.
If the idea works more ideas will be given
Giving employees the power to showcase their ideas, then test them and even implement them is a huge step to building a more cohesive and agile team. If ideas that your employees think of work more employees will want to brainstorm more ideas and thusly giving everyone a chance for the company at greater success.
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