Stopworkplacedrama.com, August 1, 2011
Ever try your hardest to coordinate an efficient, fun, and meaningful meeting, only to receive disinterested body language, constant phone checking and other obvious signs of disengagement? Below are 5 reasons employee engagement fails during meetings and 7 suggestion to improve engagement.
5 Reasons Employee Engagement Fails During Meetings
- They feel their ideas will not be strongly considered or implemented, so why bother?
- Social pressure not to be interested (brownie points won’t acieve office “coolness”)
- Negative or absent feedback when suggestions are made
- Fear of rejection
- Questions are not framed for answers or feedback
7 Ways to Improve Employee Engagement During Meetings
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Frame the question specifically (Asking, how do we improve Marketing is too broad. You might ask, how do we increase our mailing list?)
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Call on each individual, and go in order
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Start with a brainstorming session-warm them up!
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Show respect (refrain from eye rolling, checking your phone, negative body language)
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Reward good ideas (building trust is essential)
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Assign participation as part of the agenda (ask everyone to come to the meeting with 1 suggestion to share)
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Group Participation-Consider having people work in groups and work together
