Companywide meetings, like all-hands meetings, can enhance team rapport and drive business success. However, if these meetings fail to engage employees effectively, they can breed apathy and harm morale. Members of Forbes Communications Council suggest effective ways for leaders to leverage regular companywide meetings to boost employee engagement.
In this article, we summarize the key highlights from the Forbes article and highlight the Metovian contributions from our very own Jonathan Sasse and Cade Collister.
Employee Recognition
Multiple Council members shared the sentiment, making it clear: celebrate team efforts! Publicly acknowledging and celebrating team efforts makes employees feel valued and motivates them to continue their hard work. One Council member noted particularly celebrating “company culture champions” who have gone above and beyond in their role to achieve success and help others. Council members suggest making these celebrations at true town hall meetings, which invite open discourse, opening the floor up for conversation and sharing of success-stories. Alternatively, other members suggest either starting the meeting with a 10-minute video celebration or a 10-minute sharing time to celebrate achievements. This is what our CSO, Jonathan, had to say about employee recognition:
Invite Team Members To Spotlight Success Stories
Company meetings can be especially boring when the same people are presenting a version of the same story during each session. Invite team members to present success stories to the group to help shine a spotlight on the teams doing the work and help others get excited about what they are doing. It can be much more effective than an executive trying to communicate on their behalf. – Jonathan Sasse, Metova
The Meeting Itself
If the traditional all-hands meeting isn’t resonating with the team, Council members suggest trying new formats, such as interactive workshops, smaller group discussions, or virtual collaboration platforms. These options are great at motivating open discourse, which is crucial for engagement and trust. Involving members throughout the whole organization can create a team environment, which can be done by rotating which department drives the meeting or by involving employees from all levels of the organization. Here’s what Cade, VP of UX/UI, said about setting up the environment:
Create Interactive Environments
To boost employee engagement in companywide meetings, leaders should create interactive environments. We encourage dialogue through Q&A sessions and open discussions and showcase employee contributions to boost morale and inspire engagement. Rotating speakers and formats to keep meetings fresh and engaging is key to transforming meetings into collaborative opportunities that drive positive outcomes. – Cade Collister, Metova
The Vibes
Trust is required to have an engaged team, and this is a quality that is earned over time. Council members suggest being transparent in the name of trust. They recommend business leaders not shy away from potential threats, but rather shine a light on them to build rapport and confidence with employees. A great way to build engagement and trust is by incorporating playfulness through things like icebreaker activities and gamified exercises to make the meeting more interactive and enjoyable.
Outside the meeting
Before the meeting, gather anonymous feedback and questions and address those issues in all-hands meetings. Further, the subjects of these queries can dictate the nature of the meeting agenda, showing greater transparency and enhancing leadership credibility.
The full list of tips from Forbes on how to Boost Engagement At Companywide Meetings:
- Prioritize Regular Recognition
Click HERE to read the entire article at Forbes: 15 Smart Steps To Take When Sales Copy Is Not Converting
