I lead an organization of around 20 people. Mostly in their 20s and a few in their 30s. Meetings are the last thing these folks want to do. Many of them come from a camp or outdoor ministry background. They love adventure and hate the office. So creating good meetings is a must for me.
I craft my meeting around two ideas: People need to know why they are meeting, and meetings need to be collaborative. When a meeting is really motivational, both of these ideas are present.
To get the why out (I like the way that sounds), I like to spend the first five minutes casting the vision for the meeting. Especially if it’s a regular meeting that happens each week. You might think that regular meetings don’t need this, but they are the ones that need this the most. I try to find a creative way of recasting the vision each time. This brings focus to the meeting, one of the most important parts of having a great meeting.
Crafting collaboration requires me to get out of the way. Leading motivational meetings means I speak less and the meeting participants speak more. Don’t think that leading means speaking; it actually means asking great questions and getting out of the way. Often, this will produce disagreement. Good, disagreement is part of a motivational meeting. It means people feel free to speak their minds and feel like it’s a safe place to take risks.
If your meetings are all about people listening to you and not debating the topic, you are going to have a flat meeting and nothing will change. Great meetings result in change.