Download now: The Meeting Game: 117 good reasons for having a meeting

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What’s the point?
We all attend meetings. We meet on Fridays. We meet to check up. We meet half way. We meet to kick off. We are all so busy meeting each other, so it is easy to overlook one or two of the really good reasons for having a meeting.

Let’s focus on the departmental meeting. The regular, weekly playground with the big social function, where everyone has a good chance to have a closer look at each other. Without these meetings the individual would have little connection with the company. Just think about the group feeling, the team spirit, the individual positioning, the commitment, the visible manager and the all important status.

When you all talk about the things you get better at, you will all realize, that everyone becomes BETTER. Here are 3 ways of using the 117 good reasons:

The first way: 7 short meetings
Print this document with 4 pages per A4 sheet. Cut them into 4 cards and place all 117 (or the most relevant ones) on your meeting table. When your participants have arrived ask everyone to pick and choose a card, which he or she thinks carries the best piece of advice for themselves and the other participants. Now ask everyone to stand up and enter the floor. Speak two and two for 30 seconds about the meaning of the advice for your meetings. Every pair can have a short meeting of 60 seconds. When the meeting is over swop cards and proceed to the next short meeting. Allow every participant to hold 7 short meetings. After these 7 short meetings ask everyone to sit down again. What did your participants discover? Write down the ideas which you want to focus on.

The second way: 3 piles
Print and cut and place all 117 cards (or the most relevant ones) on your meeting table. When your participants have arrived ask them in pairs or groups to prioritize the cards. You could offer them a helping hand. Start by determine which cards to put in one of three piles: MORE, NO CHANGES, LESS. Ask them to focus on the cards in the pile MORE. Tell them that they have 20 minutes for the exercise. After this priority ask everyone to sit down again. What did your participants discover? Write down the ideas that you want to focus on.

The third way: Raise the hat
Print, cut and place all 117 cards (or the most relevant ones) in a hat. Place the hat on the meeting table and ask participant at random to draw a card and then make a 3 minute stand up sales speech in favour of the advice on the card. Now ask half of the participants to stand behind the idea and the other half to oppose the idea. What did the two groups of participants discover? Write down the ideas that you want to focus on.