Avoiding the Employee Engagement Rubber Rat!

The boring staff meeting

This article about employee town hall meetings where sitting was banned is great. On first reading that line, one might say – what a horrible organisation. However upon closer inspection, you realise that it is not as mean as it may sound.

How often have you been dragged away from your desk and from the productivity the C-Suite keep harping on, to sit in a meeting that drags on for hours? While I am all for engagement and especially where leadership is concerned, some meetings – and note I say, SOME – do not use time effectively, nor do they add value. They simply run the risk of aggravating the audience and in their minds, “wasting time”.

Engagement is important but it should also be effective. Many of us work in a fast-paced environment, and increasingly, our lives shape the way in which we communicate. We now communicate in a world of 140 characters, status updates, and short and succinct videos. Conversations do not always have to be epic. The best messages can get lost in the mire of sluggish corporate speak. The challenge for internal communicators is finding the best way to convey these messages so that 1) they are well received, understood and the receiver has good recall of the message;  2) do not head into the sphere of information overload.

While the rubber rat concept may not work for your organisation, other techniques would be more relevant – be it desktop or mobile video, internal social networking platforms or simply, better structured, better managed face-to-face meetings. 

Posted in: employee engagement,social media