Do you have a meeting in 5 minutes? Not sure how to open it in a way that blows your clients (or coworkers) away? Here are three techniques I use that make people feel comfortable and empowered to be productive.
1. Wins and Asks
Wins: Go around the room and ask each person to share one win they’ve had at work or in their personal life in the last 3 weeks. This creates an upbeat, collaborative mood for any meeting. This also works with conference calls. Text or email two or three of the people who will be on the call and let them know you’ll be asking them to share a win with the group. That way, the other people on the call have time to think.
Asks: Next, everyone shares one thing would like help with over the next week. Maybe it’s “Patience with my attention because I have a large project due,” “Fewer interruptions so I can get this proposal ready,” or “More coffee because my child is sick and I’ve been getting very little sleep.”
Don’t look past this activity because it seems simple: We’ve had many corporations in our Beyond the Keynote sustainment programs start their meetings with it and a makes a dramatic difference.
2. Three-Penny Challenge
Give three pennies to each person in the meeting. Every time someone says something affirming about someone else or about the team, they get to move a penny to the center of the table. Before you can end the meeting, all of the pennies should be at the center of the table.
3. 30-Second Monologue
For a lighthearted start, each participant gives a 30-second monologue on something totally unrelated to your meeting. Choose the topic, and then let them go! Here are some of my favorites:
- Favorite fast food and why
- Favorite beverage and why
- Favorite place to vacation and why
- Favorite hobby/sporting event
- Worst date of your life and why
What fun things do you do to begin meetings? I’d love to hear.
As a speaker and author, Curtis Zimmerman has impacted over one million people with his life-changing messages and award-winning programs. Curtis is an expert at transforming organizations by inspiring individuals to live their lives at performance level.
Want to be inspired? Check out his podcast The Next 24 Hours.