Although conferences and meetings can be helpful business tools, they’re often seen as unfortunate requirements. You can make the most of them, though. Rather than being things your employees dread, they can become something to view with anticipation.

An important thing to do is plan out your agenda and keep to it. Pass it out to the people who will be coming beforehand so they can prepare for it. You may also consider giving them assignments so they’ve got put energy and thought into it.

It can be quite useful to have conferences take place in a location other than the regular workplace. Just by using a different location, employees can be made more attentive. It should be someplace set up properly for an event like this, with whatever amenities that are needed so people can work comfortably. If the conference will last more than a day, you might choose a location that’s convenient but not so filled with temptations that people may slip out of the conference to go play.

Another way to get people engaged is to offer some type of refreshments. Morning meetings especially are much more welcome when they come with coffee and some kind of easy to eat food like danish. Having the event catered helps to make it seem like a perk to attend.

It’s also helpful to have the ability to use multimedia for grabbing people’s attention. Instead of just relying on speakers, you can mix in videos or slide shows so that it’s more interesting. Using a guest speaker if appropriate is also useful, particularly if he or she has a good sense of humor.

Conferences and meetings can be events to look forward to, if done right. Planning them well ahead of time, like picking the right place to host them, can make employees anticipate them happily rather than look on them with dread.

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