Team meetings don’t have to be boring!

Team meetings are a necessity. Various surveys suggest that up to 30% of time in meetings is wasted but team meetings don’t have to be boring, yawn inducing events. Conducted well they can be the corners stone of success, improving productivity, stimulating creativity and providing an opportunity for teams to work together to solve problems, make decisions and drive growth.  

Running an energised, motivational team meeting takes planning, effort and an agenda. I read a great article recently that described meetings as leadership showtime. I was privileged to witness a fantastic example of leadership showtime where the leaders concerned embraced the concept and radiated enthusiasm in order to create a high energy productive team meeting. The client gave us permission to share a behind-the-scenes glimpse into their themed team meeting which included a celebration, a competition AND a team building activity, PLUS raising money for a chosen charity! If you are planning a team meeting, this provides an abundance of inspiration. 

The meeting was designed to bring two regional teams together for input from their Chief Operating Officer. To generate a positive team-based approach, the purpose of the day was sandwiched between team building exercises and competitions.

This particular company is Paragon Skills, an apprenticeship training provider, dedicated to inspiring people to succeed. This dedication is evident in the way that they conduct their own team meetings.

Members of the team dressed up in an array of well thought out costumes to celebrate Halloween.  This created a great atmosphere and a lot of laughter as team members greeted each other. Each member of the team had made a significant effort and there was clearly friendly competition to see who had created the best costume. It is easy to see how preparing costumes for the meeting focuses the minds of those within the team encouraging thorough preparation for the important gritty sections of the meeting. This idea of dressing up for a meeting is easily adapted for other celebrations and can even form the basis of a ‘best costume’ competition.

This team also ensure that themed events have a serious and practical benefit to others from within the wider community. They achieve this by selecting a chosen charity for the day. For this meeting, their chosen charity was Centrepoint which is a UK charity which provides accommodation and support to homeless people aged 16–25. Through contributions, the team raised £47.   

Following the input from the Chief Operating Officer, the meeting concluded on a high note with pumpkin carving competition. This section of the day was highly creative and promoted team collaboration. The results were fantastic and our hospitality team were asked to judge the winners.

As a venue for team meetings, we go out of our way to understand the needs of each of our clients so that we can provide whatever support they need. If you would like to find out more about the team meeting facilities at Heath House Conference Centre, please contact us on 01889 567 014.

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