This four-page whitepaper presents eight best practices to help managers plan and execute valuable and impactful employee conferences and meetings.

1. A Glue whitepaper
Coming together
in a virtual world
Eight ways to maximize the value of
face-to-face employee meetings
By Tim Morawetz
Principal, Glue Inc.
July 2010

2. Coming together in a virtual world:
Eight ways to maximize the value of face-to-face employee meetings
By Tim Morawetz, Principal, Glue Inc.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOUR hear directly from the manage- the two-and-a-half day meeting
employees actually sat down ment team or to compare notes program for a business-to-busi-
face-to-face with one another with co-workers are increasingly ness marketing organization
and talked about business? rare – especially in times of with a staff of 100 employees –
Sure, everyone is knee-deep spending restraint. In our in- about two-thirds of whom work
in daily emails or phone conver- creasingly virtual world of instant from home-offices or are fre-
sations about ongoing business messaging, voicemails and con- quently on the road. In the fol-
issues, and your staff may shoot ference calls, weʼre missing the low-up evaluation that asked
employees about the best part
of the meeting, nearly 40 per-
cent mentioned the opportunity
to network, while a quarter high-
lighted the chance to enjoy
some free time having fun with
their peers. The survey also
showed that the event earned
an impressive 96.3 percent
score in empowering individual
employees to be effective lead-
ers – a key business objective
for the meeting. In todayʼs busi-
ness environment where em-
ployee engagement is a key
success factor, this employee
meeting was clear success.
Thereʼs no question that flying
folks from across the country
Employee meetings enable staff to escape from the pressures of their into a downtown hotel or se-
everyday work and truly connect with one another. cluded resort is an expensive
the breeze with colleagues at a chance to really connect. proposition, both in terms of ac-
company golf day or holiday Yet there is a rather old-fash- tual dollars spent plus lost rev-
party. But most likely, especially ioned but effective remedy to enue from taking them away
in companies with people lo- this shortage of genuine interac- from their daily work. But the
cated across the country, the op- tion: the employee meeting. payoff from bringing employees
portunities for employees to Last fall, Glue helped develop together can be very significant;
The eight ways: a fact that has led this client to
1. Be very clear on why you need to meet. continue bringing its entire team
2. Find a theme that expresses your meeting purpose, then tie together year after year.
everything back to this theme. Here are eight pointers to help
3. Get colleagues working together on real business issues. you derive maximum business
4. Incorporate the voice of the customer. value from your meeting invest-
5. Keep your leadership team visible and accessible throughout ment.
the meeting.
1. Be very clear on why you
6. Build-in time for genuine fun.
need to meet.
7. Donʼt underestimate the importance of the meeting environment.
Like most things in business,
8. Evaluate afterwards to uncover opportunities for improvement.
itʼs important to have concrete

3. objectives. For example, you encounter challenges in dealing In dispersed organizations,
may be implementing a new or- with business issues. employees usually welcome
ganizational structure, introduc- By assembling small groups of face-time with senior manage-
ing a new product or service, people who share a geography, ment. While some folks are look-
strengthening team capabilities, and asking them to resolve real- ing for a kind word for their
or reinforcing current business istic challenges through carefully efforts, most are genuinely inter-
strategies. structured workshops or break- ested in hearing how the busi-
But beyond these ʻharderʼ rea- out sessions, youʼll break down ness is doing and where itʼs
sons, itʼs wise to capitalize on the convenient barrier of emails headed. Knowing that strong
everyone being together in order or voicemails and help foster leaders can strengthen trust and
to accomplish ʻsofterʼ goals, like genuine collaboration and busi- rekindle employee passion for
recognizing work-unit or individ- ness improvement. the companyʼs mission, itʼs im-
ual successes or simply having portant to take full advantage of
fun together. 4. Incorporate the voice of the the leadership presence at the
customer. meeting.
2. Find a theme that Although employees are the First of all, leaders must un-
expresses your meeting core audience at your meeting, derstand and believe in the
purpose, then tie everything never lose sight of the end-cus- meeting theme, then ʻlive itʼ in
back to this theme.
Many of us are skeptical about
the often-vacuous themes or
slogans that get slapped onto
employee meetings.
The first step in selecting a
theme is to identify a fundamen-
tal concept – such as leader-
ship, excellence, innovation,
discipline or passion – that un-
derlies the meetingʼs various
business objectives.
Then, embed that idea in a
memorable phrase and logo that
is ʻin syncʼ with the culture of the
organization.
Finally, exploit all appropriate Use structured breakout sessions to bring together groups of people
opportunities to reinforce this who regularly collaborate to resolve realistic business challenges.
theme – through such meeting tomer who ultimately pays the their every action at the event.
elements as a guest speaker, bills. Assuming your top executive
special entertainment or team- Bringing the customer into is a decent presenter, have him
building activity – so attendees your meeting can be accom- or her kick off the agenda to set-
truly internalize the theme and plished through video interviews up the theme, then conduct one
its message from a range of per- with individual customers talking or more formal or informal ques-
spectives. about your products, video tion-and-answer sessions during
footage from a focus group, cus- the meeting.
3. Get colleagues working tomer research results, or even Be sure to involve the relevant
together on real business a live panel involving several members of the leadership team
issues. customers discussing your com- in any recognition component of
Employees who work closely pany and your competitors. the meeting. Finally, require
together – such as sales reps in that executives sit among their
adjoining territories, or sales and 5. Keep your leadership team employees at meals, and take
client-support teams serving a visible and accessible part in networking or fun activi-
common customer – frequently throughout the meeting. ties as much as possible.

4. 6. Build-in time for genuine Even the most compelling enable employees to respond
fun. meeting content will be compro- anonymously, but ask them to
Granted, not all of us love re- mised if your staff are forced to indicate their business unit and
laxing with our co-workers. But if sit in a hot, overcrowded hotel perhaps their years of service,
youʼve taken your employees ballroom, if they canʼt see the so trends in the data can be es-
away from their homes and fam- projection screen, or if the lunch tablished. Include quantitative
ilies for several days (often to a buffet runs out of food. questions (e.g., using a 1 to 5
scenic or ʻbig-cityʼ destination), This doesnʼt mean that you rating scale) to rate whether the
the least you can do is give have to book a five-star venue, meeting met their expectations,
whether it accomplished your
stated objectives, and to assess
the effectiveness of specific
meeting segments. Be sure to
include space for verbatim com-
ments, since these can reveal
important insights that may not
otherwise surface. When the
evaluation results are in and tab-
ulated, share the feedback with
the leadership team so business
improvement opportunities can
be acted upon.
Itʼs a truism to say that har-
nessing the full potential of a
Get the logistics right: running out of food at the lunch buffet can workforce is one of manage-
compromise the impact of even the very best meeting content.
mentʼs biggest challenges, es-
them some time to stop working but rather that you ensure that pecially as employees
and enjoy the surroundings. the practical aspects of the increasingly use the latest tech-
This need not mean totally un- meeting experience are physi- nologies to interact with their su-
structured free time; instead you cally comfortable. periors and their peers. Yet an
can encourage networking and old-fashioned ʻget-togetherʼ
facilitate fun by offering staff the 8. Evaluate afterwards to thatʼs thoughtfully planned and
choice of signing up – in ad- uncover opportunities for carefully executed can power-
vance – for one of several recre- improvement. fully re-energize staff to continue
ational activities. Even the best employee meet- the pursuit of your organizationʼs
Be sure to offer a selection of ing can be made better the next vision.
both competitive and non-com- time around.
petitive diversions, such as golf, Ideally, you should use an online Glue Inc. (www.glue-to.com)
cycling, tennis, hiking, spa treat- evaluation form to capture staff creates ʻcommunications that
ments or shopping. feedback – distributed a few stick.ʼ We specialize in informing
Remember, structured team- days after your folks are back on and empowering the internal
building activities (designed to the job – so their responses constituents of corporations and
foster communications and col- more accurately reflect the more not-for-profit organizations. Tim
laboration) are still ʻwork,ʼ and lasting impact of the meeting. can be reached at (416) 703-
your people will welcome the (This is much better than asking 5300, or tim@glue-to.com.
chance to have some fun on staff to complete a paper-based
their own terms. evaluation just as the lights go
up after the closing session,
7. Donʼt underestimate the since their thoughts will have
importance of the meeting turned to getting to the airport!)
environment. Your feedback process should