A Glue whitepaper

By Tim MorawetzPrincipal, Glue Inc.

July 2010

Coming together in a virtual world

Eight ways to maximize the value of face-to-face employee meetings

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOURemployees actually sat downface-to-face with one anotherand talked about business?

Sure, everyone is knee-deepin daily emails or phone conver-sations about ongoing businessissues, and your staff may shoot

the breeze with colleagues at acompany golf day or holidayparty. But most likely, especiallyin companies with people lo-cated across the country, the op-portunities for employees to

hear directly from the manage-ment team or to compare noteswith co-workers are increasinglyrare – especially in times ofspending restraint. In our in-creasingly virtual world of instantmessaging, voicemails and con-ference calls, weʼre missing the

chance to really connect.Yet there is a rather old-fash-

ioned but effective remedy tothis shortage of genuine interac-tion: the employee meeting.

Last fall, Glue helped develop

the two-and-a-half day meetingprogram for a business-to-busi-ness marketing organizationwith a staff of 100 employees –about two-thirds of whom workfrom home-offices or are fre-quently on the road. In the fol-low-up evaluation that askedemployees about the best partof the meeting, nearly 40 per-cent mentioned the opportunityto network, while a quarter high-lighted the chance to enjoysome free time having fun withtheir peers. The survey alsoshowed that the event earnedan impressive 96.3 percentscore in empowering individualemployees to be effective lead-ers – a key business objectivefor the meeting. In todayʼs busi-ness environment where em-ployee engagement is a keysuccess factor, this employeemeeting was clear success.

Thereʼs no question that flyingfolks from across the countryinto a downtown hotel or se-cluded resort is an expensiveproposition, both in terms of ac-tual dollars spent plus lost rev-enue from taking them awayfrom their daily work. But thepayoff from bringing employeestogether can be very significant;a fact that has led this client tocontinue bringing its entire teamtogether year after year.

Here are eight pointers to helpyou derive maximum businessvalue from your meeting invest-ment.

1. Be very clear on why youneed to meet.

Like most things in business,itʼs important to have concrete

Coming together in a virtual world: Eight ways to maximize the value of face-to-face employee meetings

By Tim Morawetz, Principal, Glue Inc.

Employee meetings enable staff to escape from the pressures of theireveryday work and truly connect with one another.

The eight ways:1. Be very clear on why you need to meet.2.Find a theme that expresses your meeting purpose, then tie

everything back to this theme.3.Get colleagues working together on real business issues.4. Incorporate the voice of the customer. 5. Keep your leadership team visible and accessible throughout

the meeting.6.Build-in time for genuine fun.7. Donʼt underestimate the importance of the meeting environment.8.Evaluate afterwards to uncover opportunities for improvement.

objectives. For example, youmay be implementing a new or-ganizational structure, introduc-ing a new product or service,strengthening team capabilities,or reinforcing current businessstrategies.

But beyond these ʻharderʼ rea-sons, itʼs wise to capitalize oneveryone being together in orderto accomplish ʻsofterʼ goals, likerecognizing work-unit or individ-ual successes or simply havingfun together.

2. Find a theme that expresses your meeting purpose, then tie everythingback to this theme.

Many of us are skeptical aboutthe often-vacuous themes orslogans that get slapped ontoemployee meetings.

The first step in selecting atheme is to identify a fundamen-tal concept – such as leader-ship, excellence, innovation,discipline or passion – that un-derlies the meetingʼs variousbusiness objectives.

Then, embed that idea in amemorable phrase and logo thatis ʻin syncʼ with the culture of theorganization.

Finally, exploit all appropriateopportunities to reinforce thistheme – through such meetingelements as a guest speaker,special entertainment or team-building activity – so attendeestruly internalize the theme andits message from a range of per-spectives.

3. Get colleagues working together on real business issues.

Employees who work closelytogether – such as sales reps inadjoining territories, or sales andclient-support teams serving acommon customer – frequently

encounter challenges in dealingwith business issues.

By assembling small groups ofpeople who share a geography,and asking them to resolve real-istic challenges through carefullystructured workshops or break-out sessions, youʼll break downthe convenient barrier of emailsor voicemails and help fostergenuine collaboration and busi-ness improvement.

4. Incorporate the voice of thecustomer.

Although employees are thecore audience at your meeting,never lose sight of the end-cus-

tomer who ultimately pays thebills.

Bringing the customer intoyour meeting can be accom-plished through video interviewswith individual customers talkingabout your products, videofootage from a focus group, cus-tomer research results, or evena live panel involving severalcustomers discussing your com-pany and your competitors.

5. Keep your leadership teamvisible and accessiblethroughout the meeting.

In dispersed organizations,employees usually welcomeface-time with senior manage-ment. While some folks are look-ing for a kind word for theirefforts, most are genuinely inter-ested in hearing how the busi-ness is doing and where itʼsheaded. Knowing that strongleaders can strengthen trust andrekindle employee passion forthe companyʼs mission, itʼs im-portant to take full advantage ofthe leadership presence at themeeting.

First of all, leaders must un-derstand and believe in themeeting theme, then ʻlive itʼ in

their every action at the event. Assuming your top executive

is a decent presenter, have himor her kick off the agenda to set-up the theme, then conduct oneor more formal or informal ques-tion-and-answer sessions duringthe meeting.

Be sure to involve the relevantmembers of the leadership teamin any recognition component of

the meeting. Finally, requirethat executives sit among theiremployees at meals, and takepart in networking or fun activi-ties as much as possible.

Use structured breakout sessions to bring together groups of peoplewho regularly collaborate to resolve realistic business challenges.

6. Build-in time for genuinefun.

Granted, not all of us love re-laxing with our co-workers. But ifyouʼve taken your employeesaway from their homes and fam-ilies for several days (often to ascenic or ʻbig-cityʼ destination),the least you can do is give

them some time to stop workingand enjoy the surroundings.

This need not mean totally un-structured free time; instead youcan encourage networking andfacilitate fun by offering staff thechoice of signing up – in ad-vance – for one of several recre-ational activities.

Be sure to offer a selection ofboth competitive and non-com-petitive diversions, such as golf,cycling, tennis, hiking, spa treat-ments or shopping.

Remember, structured team-building activities (designed tofoster communications and col-laboration) are still ʻwork,ʼ andyour people will welcome thechance to have some fun ontheir own terms.

7. Donʼt underestimate the importance of the meeting environment.

Even the most compellingmeeting content will be compro-mised if your staff are forced tosit in a hot, overcrowded hotelballroom, if they canʼt see theprojection screen, or if the lunchbuffet runs out of food.

This doesnʼt mean that youhave to book a five-star venue,

but rather that you ensure thatthe practical aspects of themeeting experience are physi-cally comfortable.

8. Evaluate afterwards to uncover opportunities for improvement.

Even the best employee meet-ing can be made better the nexttime around. Ideally, you should use an onlineevaluation form to capture stafffeedback – distributed a fewdays after your folks are back onthe job – so their responsesmore accurately reflect the morelasting impact of the meeting.(This is much better than askingstaff to complete a paper-basedevaluation just as the lights goup after the closing session,since their thoughts will haveturned to getting to the airport!)Your feedback process should

enable employees to respondanonymously, but ask them toindicate their business unit andperhaps their years of service,so trends in the data can be es-tablished. Include quantitativequestions (e.g., using a 1 to 5rating scale) to rate whether themeeting met their expectations,whether it accomplished yourstated objectives, and to assessthe effectiveness of specificmeeting segments. Be sure toinclude space for verbatim com-ments, since these can revealimportant insights that may nototherwise surface. When theevaluation results are in and tab-ulated, share the feedback withthe leadership team so businessimprovement opportunities canbe acted upon.

Itʼs a truism to say that har-nessing the full potential of aworkforce is one of manage-mentʼs biggest challenges, es-pecially as employeesincreasingly use the latest tech-nologies to interact with their su-periors and their peers. Yet anold-fashioned ʻget-togetherʼthatʼs thoughtfully planned andcarefully executed can power-fully re-energize staff to continuethe pursuit of your organizationʼsvision.

Glue Inc. (www.glue-to.com)creates ʻcommunications thatstick.ʼ We specialize in informingand empowering the internalconstituents of corporations andnot-for-profit organizations. Timcan be reached at (416) 703-5300, or tim@glue-to.com.

Get the logistics right: running out of food at the lunch buffet cancompromise the impact of even the very best meeting content.