Make the Most of Your Summer Business Meetings!

Business meetings can be tedious, especially in the summer when most employees are itching to get out in the sun. Long meetings are not often well attended, and those that do attend can have a hard time staying focused on the task at hand. Below are a few things you can do to make sure your summer business meetings well attended!

How to make meetings more effectiveEffective Business MeetingHow do you make a meeting productive and fun?How to improve meetingsProductive team meetingsEffective meeting strategies 1: Have a plan.

Meetings which have a formal agenda tend to take less time and cover more. It keeps speakers and participants from getting off topic and spending too much time on one subject. Passing an agenda out to possible attendees is also a great opportunity to get people interested. Letting them know before hand which topics will be covered give them an opportunity to prepare for the meeting with any questions or input they may have.

2: Keep it short.

It seems like our attention spans lessen in the summer, when most of us would rather be outside than indoors working. Keep the meeting to just the most important things that need to be covered, and table anything else for later! If there is a lot to be covered, consider breaking it up into multiple meetings. Having a few short meetings throughout the week is more productive than one long meeting.

3: Make it interesting.

Begin or end the meeting with a little fun. An "icebreaker" type game gets people to relax and engage. Games can also get creative juices flowing if you are having a brainstorming session. Some companies have a guest speaker come give interesting facts or anecdotal stories making it easier for employees to relate to the job at hand. Even if it’s just a few minutes, finding a way to make the meeting fun and interesting always improves attendance and morale.

4: Bring food!

One of the best ways to up the attendance at your next meeting is to bring food. Having food brought in is sure to get people’s attention, and it doesn’t have to break the bank. Offering a tray of cookies, or a light snack is a budget friendly way to entice people to attend. Providing a continental breakfast is a great way to start the day and tends to be a bit less expensive than lunch or dinner. However, if your budget allows, consider providing a full spread of sandwich and salad party platters or gourmet box lunches. It not only encourages attendance, but it can also stifle a lot of the side conversations that tend to happen. (It’s hard to chit-chat when your mouth is full of delicious food!) Finding a good caterer makes it easy to get your food delivered and keep your costs down.Ingallina’s Box Lunch, for instance, offers competitive pricing along with free delivery to the Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle metro areas. If you are already planning your next meeting, then order today! Just be sure to include Gluten-free, Vegetarian, and Vegan options!

Ingallina’s Box Lunch is a high quality, Corporate Catering Company specializing in the needs of corporate offices.