Tag: employee satisfaction

entrepreneur meeting

4 ways to put variety in your meetings

Whether your business has meetings daily, weekly, or hardly ever, you might have wondered how you can make them more interesting. Of course, remaining professional and sticking to the task at hand is paramount, but there are also ways you can make meetings more appealing and help your team feel more alert, creative, and engaged.

Here are four ideas to help inject some variety into your meetings.

1) Step out of the boardroom

A change of scenery can have a revitalizing effect on your team. Try holding meetings in a different spot if possible. For example, in a local coffeeshop, park, restaurant over lunch, or other location that’s nearby and comfortable.

2) Try short, daily, stand-up meetings

A study at Stanford Business School showed that, when meetings were held standing up and taking 10-20 minutes, decisions took 34% less time to make, with no noticeable difference in the quality of the decision. Why not try regular, super-quick meetings held standing up? These short meetings may sound like a weird idea, but some teams find they improve focus and productivity. Daily stand-up meetings are not intended to replace traditional meetings for strategic, big-picture topics. Instead, they’re best for fleshing out daily tasks and responsibilities.

3) Make it a team effort

Finding ways to foster collaboration and discussion can help your team feel more engaged. For example, you can hold the meeting using your own words and not reading off an agenda. You can also ask the team to help you quickly brainstorm some ideas for a project – one person’s thought might spark an idea in another person.

4) Ban meetings for one day

Are you having hour-long meetings every Wednesday just because you always have? Are you hearing feedback that certain employees don’t feel meetings are relevant to what they do, or that they take too much time away from work? If so, you may want to try setting aside one meeting-free day per week. This way, your team can be assured that there’s at least one day where they can put their heads down and work. This way, when you do have meetings (and do try to only have them when it’s necessary), your team will actually have something to contribute.

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Small business blog posts we liked this week

Whether you’re considering a new retail space or brushing up on your presentation skills, here are some small business articles we’ve enjoyed this week. Let us know if you’ve read anything good lately!

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4 ways to make meetings more interesting

entrepreneur meeting

Whether your team holds meetings daily, weekly, or hardly at all, you might have wondered how you can make them more interesting. While it’s important to remain professional and stick to the task at hand, finding ways to make meetings more appealing can help your team feel more alert, creative, and engaged.

Here are four ideas to help make meetings more interesting for everyone.

Step out of the boardroom

Whenever possible, try holding meetings in a different spot than you usually do – try a local coffeeshop, park, or other location that’s nearby and comfortable. A change of scenery can have a revitalizing effect on your team, especially if they are used to the same meeting room every time. New ideas and increased creativity may result.

Try daily stand-up meetings

No, we don’t mean stand-up comedy – we mean regular, super-quick meetings held standing up. These short meetings may sound like a weird idea, but agile teams love them for productivity and focus. A study at Stanford Business School showed that, when meetings were held standing up and taking 10-20 minutes, decisions took 34% less time to make, with no noticeable difference in the quality of the decision.

Keep in mind that daily stand-up meetings are not intended for strategic, big-picture topics. They’re best for fleshing out daily tasks and responsibilities. You may want to supplement daily stand-up meetings with longer, more traditional ones.

Ban meetings for one day

Are you having hour-long meetings twice a week out of habit? Are you hearing grumbling amongst your employees about meeting frequency, length, or repetition? If so, you may want to try setting aside one day a week that is always meeting-free. This way, your team can count on at least one day when they can put their heads down and actually do the work that the regular meetings may be preventing. This way, when you do have to meet (and do try to only hold meetings when it’s necessary), your team will actually have plans and results to report on.

Make it a team effort

One easy way to help make meetings more interesting for everyone involved is to get everyone involved. We’re not saying put each of your employees on the spot my making them prepare a speech, but find ways to foster collaboration and discussion. This can be as simple as speaking in your own words and not reading off an agenda. Or, if you want to get a little fancy, you can encourage brainstorming at your next planning meeting – have everyone spend five minutes writing down ideas without editing, then go around the room and ask people to read their one or two best ideas. One person’s thought might spark an idea in another person, and soon your meeting will be productive as well as exciting.

What are your favourite tips for making business meetings interesting?

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Running a successful family business with non-family employees

family-business

Approximately 80% of all businesses in Canada are family-owned and operated. It’s a popular form of small business, but of course, not all of those businesses are solely staffed by family. In fact, family businesses often experience a high turnover rate of employees outside of the family.

How can your family business maintain its welcoming and inclusive dynamic and extend it to non-family employees as well? How can you avoid an “us vs them” environment? Here are some tips:

  • Make every employee – family or not – feel welcomed, appreciated, and part of the team. Happy employees who love what they do are more likely to band together.
  • All employees should pull their weight, but family employees might be watched a little more closely than others. Make sure that everyone is responsible, respectful, and does good work.
  • Avoid hiring family members who are unsuited to their role. This prevent you wasting time and money, and it’ll demonstrate that you don’t play favourites.
  • Don’t have different rules or expectations for family and non-family employees. Showing favouritism to family members or keeping them more in the loop than non-family employees will only breed resentment and damage morale.
  • Squash tensions before they arise. Make sure all employees know they can come to you with any issues, even if it’s a question about your cousin’s use of the best parking spots. Treat all issues with respect and sensitivity.

Visit GoForth Institute’s Entrepreneur Library for more tips on managing your family business!

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