Meetings don’t have to be mundane; they don’t have to stifle the synergy or destroy the dynamics! They don’t have to be the place where good ideas go to die. Meetings can be productive, compelling, interesting, and creative! Too many meetings don’t get off the ground, but there are things you can do to elevate the experience.
Think Small
Really big groups are unwieldy. From a creative standpoint you are probably better off breaking into smaller groups. This will be more interactive and produce a wider variety of ideas. It also encourages more people to participate. Large meetings feel like a classroom setting and end up with one person doing most of the talking.
They Said It Couldn’t Be Done
It’s an exercise that can stimulate a solution no one has ever thought of. If something typically takes two months, ask how it might be done in two weeks. It may be impossible but challenge the status quo anyway. If they say it can’t be done, ask someone to do it. When JFK said we’d land a man on the moon before the end of the 60s he wasn’t at all certain that was realistic. Neither was NASA. But we did it.
Break the Ice
Stay relevant. You could start out by asking everyone in the room what their favorite food is, just to get things going. That’s not a terrible approach. However, if the focus is about ideas for a new app, you’d be better off breaking the ice by asking each person what their favorite app is. Another technique is for everyone to write down an idea, trade pages, and read them aloud without identifying the person who wrote it. That way no one is reading their own idea, and no one knows whose idea it is. Less pressure.
Don’t Ask for Something New
New ideas about anything are very few and far between. English journalist Christopher Booker wrote a book in which he posed the notion that there are seven basic plots which are recycled again and again, in novels, films and plays. A brand new, never been done before idea — especially one that works — is exceptionally rare. So don’t ask for new, ask for improved. Coming up with a way to improve something is still difficult but it’s less daunting than starting from scratch.
Meetings shouldn’t be mayhem, but they don’t need to be the cure for insomnia either. Humor can alleviate tension, so have some fun. Give people breathing room and they’ll breathe new life into your marketing.