If you are part of the workforce chances are you find yourself in a meeting at least once a week. How often have you noticed your fellow workmates daydreaming, squirming in their seats or nodding off? That's the topic of our poll this month and we are curious to see what the results will be. Studies have shown that after 20 minutes of listening most of our minds will begin to wander. So really it's not our fault if we start thinking of what we're going to make for supper or how many calories were in those three doughnuts. But the problem is when we're thinking of these other thoughts we aren't absorbing anything to do with the meeting. That equates to a big waste of time for everyone. Taking breaks at least every 20 minutes can do a World of good for improving overall retention levels. Here are some suggestions:
In a large meeting room, surprise the group by tossing a Giant Lightweight Ball into the room and challenging them to keep the ball in the air circulating around the room. Great for getting everyone up and feeling energized!
In a Boardroom, have target practice. Set up empty water bottles as the targets and use Flingshot Monkeys or Marshmallow Bow & Arrows and see who can knock the most bottles over.
Make teams and have a relay race around the boardroom or through a convention room using a Fun Fly Stick. One team member takes the stick and must carry the floating shape to another team member waiting a distance away. Have them go around chairs and tables to make it even more challenging. You can also set-up a race course and have individuals race their way to a finish line. The cheers from the spectators can be deafening.
These are simple and easy games to incorporate into your meeting environment and it will definitely energize your group and hopefully diminish the nodders!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Quote for the month
The truly great advantages of this generation will be made by those that can make outrageous connnections, and only a mind which knows how to play can do that. - Nagle Jackson
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Edmonton Journal Article
By Bill Mah, Edmonton JournalDecember 22, 2009
You're chairing a meeting when suddenly the eyes around the table glaze and the yawns gape.
It's time to let the monkeys fly!
Not the winged simians unleashed on Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, but the fun kind sold by Edmonton online store High 5 TeamBuilding.
The e-tailer claims its products will do the seemingly impossible -- enliven tedious business gatherings and boost the morale of stressed workers.
The Flingshot Monkey, for example, is a plush toy that a worker grabs by the furry arms and tail, stretches and releases. Once launched, the monkey soars as far as 15 metres and screams as it hurtles over desks and cubicles.
"You don't have to shoot it at people," clarifies High 5 co-owner Robin Hardin, with a laugh.
High 5 has an older, more conventional division that helps plan corporate events and facilitate team-building activities.
"We were constantly being asked by clients what we had for meetings; they're doing a meeting and just needed something fun."
But at the same time, Hardin noticed companies, watching costs in a downturn, were balking at bringing in a professional to energize meetings.
"They were looking for something affordable, and something they could do for just five minutes as a break in a meeting. There just wasn't anything out there."
So High 5 branched off into providing do-it-yourself products for employers to add a little fun for staff into the work day.
Paradoxically, clowning around can make work more productive, Hardin says. "A lot of times in meetings, after the first five minutes of a speaker talking, people's minds are drifting. It's just a natural occurrence," she said.
"In the studies we've researched, they find that if they have five-minute breaks every 20 minutes to get people up and energized, their retention levels soar."
One suggestion involves placing a flying monkey at every meeting participant's spot to spark immediate interest as soon as they arrive. Some clients have broken up meetings with flying-monkey bowling using water bottles as pins.
"We're very particular about what we carry. ... We test it on people that are hard to entertain."
bmah@thejournal. canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
You're chairing a meeting when suddenly the eyes around the table glaze and the yawns gape.
It's time to let the monkeys fly!
Not the winged simians unleashed on Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, but the fun kind sold by Edmonton online store High 5 TeamBuilding.
The e-tailer claims its products will do the seemingly impossible -- enliven tedious business gatherings and boost the morale of stressed workers.
The Flingshot Monkey, for example, is a plush toy that a worker grabs by the furry arms and tail, stretches and releases. Once launched, the monkey soars as far as 15 metres and screams as it hurtles over desks and cubicles.
"You don't have to shoot it at people," clarifies High 5 co-owner Robin Hardin, with a laugh.
High 5 has an older, more conventional division that helps plan corporate events and facilitate team-building activities.
"We were constantly being asked by clients what we had for meetings; they're doing a meeting and just needed something fun."
But at the same time, Hardin noticed companies, watching costs in a downturn, were balking at bringing in a professional to energize meetings.
"They were looking for something affordable, and something they could do for just five minutes as a break in a meeting. There just wasn't anything out there."
So High 5 branched off into providing do-it-yourself products for employers to add a little fun for staff into the work day.
Paradoxically, clowning around can make work more productive, Hardin says. "A lot of times in meetings, after the first five minutes of a speaker talking, people's minds are drifting. It's just a natural occurrence," she said.
"In the studies we've researched, they find that if they have five-minute breaks every 20 minutes to get people up and energized, their retention levels soar."
One suggestion involves placing a flying monkey at every meeting participant's spot to spark immediate interest as soon as they arrive. Some clients have broken up meetings with flying-monkey bowling using water bottles as pins.
"We're very particular about what we carry. ... We test it on people that are hard to entertain."
bmah@thejournal. canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
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