? Are you sick of boring meetings?
? Feel like you are attending meetings just to make up the numbers?
? Feel like you are not listened to or valued in meetings?
? Surely there is a way to make this more fun!
Working in a fun environment is much more likely to produce success. When we facilitate meetings particularly online we need to make an effort for it to be fun and people to remain engaged. There are three key aspects of fun facilitation:
1. Turn up
2. Power up
3. Mix it up
The first step is to get everybody to turn up, including the facilitator turning up as their best self, to give the best of themselves to the group. Once we are all present (a present frame of mind – not distracted), it's the job of the facilitator to power up the engagement. This can be achieved by ensuring that everyone has a voice and giving people something to do to contribute. Some fun ideas are using of breakout rooms or music to fire up the energy in the room so that we get the most out of the meeting. Finally, we may need to mix it up, this is especially true if we're having a regular meeting, we don't want everyone coming to the meeting expecting same ole same ole and being bored with the idea of attending. Give them a surprise for the meeting to keep them wondering. Maybe one meeting you randomly turn it into a trivia quiz to keep everyone on their toes, or prep everyone to wear their favourite hat, or show and tell the last photo they took.
Think of it like a circus, a bit of an adventure and you never know what's going to come around the corner. That's how people will stay engaged with what's happening in the meeting, ask questions, get people involved, particularly ask questions of people who are not across the topic being talked about because then you'll be able to tell if they're actually engaged. Quite often we turn off when the conversation does not involve us and start doing/ thinking about some other stuff. Also consider who is invited to the meeting and if they are all required. This will ensure the best utilisation of everyone’s time.
If it's worth having a meeting, it's worth putting the effort into making it fun. This is the best way to promote engagement across the team and improve the chances of success of the group. It also makes the most of the time allocated for the meeting.
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