Team Meetings
Our IT department has been having bi-weekly meetings for a couple of years now. Everyone is expected to bring a one page status report to pass out to everyone else and we go around the table and talk about the highlights of the past two weeks. The purpose was to get everyone together, keep people informed on projects and give everyone an appreciation for what their teammates were doing.
At least, that was the idea.
The reality was that people would show up late, not have sheets and, instead of just touching the highlights would read their sheets verbatim. Not everyone, and not consistently the same people but enough that it was getting pretty boring and aggravating.
So, Sugar Daddy suggested we change it up and he and I brainstormed on how to make it all more interesting. We came up with the plan that one meeting a month would be about going over the company financials followed by giving everyone up to 2 minutes to talk about their most pressing or interesting issue. The second meeting the month would be free form. We might do a team activity or have a guest speaker or do an in-depth presentation on a specific topic.
Everyone pretty much got behind the idea, mostly because I think they were really bored with the old format.
The first free form meeting, I presented the different communication styles and had everyone declare which type they were. It was cool. We actually got some discussion going so I knew people were really engaged in the process.
For January, we're having a book discussion. I've handed out the book and people are already talking about it. Being a bookworm, I'm loving that. I've also invited one of the company founders to speak to us on motivation. She's a fabulous presenter so I know people will enjoy it.
That leaves November and December activities to figure out. And, it's pretty much all on me. Sugar Daddy's kinda like, "Yeah, great idea, go with it." He's not so much with the ideas.
We're going to do some word puzzles next week. I'm going to divide people up into random teams to break up the cliques and I think it's going to work out well. I'm going to bring in doughnuts and offer prizes. IT people love free food so they'll at least be happy with that.
I have no idea what to do for December. Or, February or March or April... Hopefully, I'll be inspired but the thought of coming up with 13 activities (every 2 weeks) each year is a tad overwhelming. We might be reading a lot of books and end up playing Tiddly-Winks a lot.
So, if anyone has any team building ideas, let me know. I can use all the help I can get.
At least, that was the idea.
The reality was that people would show up late, not have sheets and, instead of just touching the highlights would read their sheets verbatim. Not everyone, and not consistently the same people but enough that it was getting pretty boring and aggravating.
So, Sugar Daddy suggested we change it up and he and I brainstormed on how to make it all more interesting. We came up with the plan that one meeting a month would be about going over the company financials followed by giving everyone up to 2 minutes to talk about their most pressing or interesting issue. The second meeting the month would be free form. We might do a team activity or have a guest speaker or do an in-depth presentation on a specific topic.
Everyone pretty much got behind the idea, mostly because I think they were really bored with the old format.
The first free form meeting, I presented the different communication styles and had everyone declare which type they were. It was cool. We actually got some discussion going so I knew people were really engaged in the process.
For January, we're having a book discussion. I've handed out the book and people are already talking about it. Being a bookworm, I'm loving that. I've also invited one of the company founders to speak to us on motivation. She's a fabulous presenter so I know people will enjoy it.
That leaves November and December activities to figure out. And, it's pretty much all on me. Sugar Daddy's kinda like, "Yeah, great idea, go with it." He's not so much with the ideas.
We're going to do some word puzzles next week. I'm going to divide people up into random teams to break up the cliques and I think it's going to work out well. I'm going to bring in doughnuts and offer prizes. IT people love free food so they'll at least be happy with that.
I have no idea what to do for December. Or, February or March or April... Hopefully, I'll be inspired but the thought of coming up with 13 activities (every 2 weeks) each year is a tad overwhelming. We might be reading a lot of books and end up playing Tiddly-Winks a lot.
So, if anyone has any team building ideas, let me know. I can use all the help I can get.
