Kicking off a new project offers the potential for success and valuable creativity at a company, but sitting at a boring and lengthy meeting about it isn’t anyone’s idea of fun. A boring gathering can doom a new project or idea at the starting gate. Creating an exciting, fast paced, and valuable kickoff meeting takes serious imagination and planning.
Kickoff meetings that go on for several hours offer significant likelihood of bored participants. The following tips will help any meeting planner get everyone energized about a new project without the stress of a long, tedious meeting.
sales-kick-off1. Lecture no more than 5 minutes at a time
Every word must count during any presentation, and talking for more than 5 minutes at a time will send participants’ minds to wandering. The first speech of the meeting should be only a few minutes before the program launches into something like a game or activity.
2. Turn information into physical displays
Nobody wants to listen to someone talk about an idea for a half hour. Three-dimensional physical displays that create a tangible vision of the project are essential and improve participation.
3. Create a contest
Contests are particularly valuable for companies with heavy sales teams, but contests of other kinds may be employed for a variety of job types. A kickoff meeting is a great time to introduce a contest.
conference-apps-sales-kick-off4. Utilize a custom app
Getting everyone involved on their beloved smart phone device is a good way to improve participation in the meeting, and it may also be a way for meeting planners to track participation and attention from meeting goers. Some conference apps like this one even have features that will allow you to learn how much your team retained from the event.
5. Don’t use slide shows
Slide shows and the droning voice of someone reading a huge amount of information from slide after slide is the easiest way to put a room full of people to sleep. Try skipping the slide show entirely.
6. Invite EVERYONE
A kickoff meeting represents an essential new project for the company, and it’s vital to include everyone. Even if someone isn’t going to be directly involved in the new project, their attendance at the meeting could provide surprising benefits to teamwork and creativity.
7. Play games and have fun
Everyone likes games, and even if a game designed by project managers or meeting designers is a little goofy, it’s still going to get people energized and interested in the information presented.
8. Use music throughout the meeting
Music is a terrific addition to a room that might be too quiet and which might inspire people to doze or sleep. Using music during projects and games helps tremendously. Check out the amazing video below, of the Orlando Orchestra opening up a sales kick off conference. You can see how powerful this can be in getting the crowd pumped!
9. Cover the hard topics
Scan every ounce of information to be presented at the meeting to make sure it’s not something everyone already knows. Covering the difficult subjects and important topics ensures the meeting’s value remains high.
10. Leave ideas on the table
A meeting doesn’t need to tell everyone everything about everything ever associated with a project. Ending the meeting with some action points and things to consider means people will leave the meeting space with their minds dynamic and active on the meeting’s topic.
A meeting is a necessary evil for many industries, but it doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out affair where all the participants sit glassy-eyed, staring at a dull slide show for hours and hours. Nothing says excitement like a meeting that energizes participants and gets everyone excited about the future.
