10 Easy Ways to Wow Your Team at Your Brand Strategy Workshop
Get out the decorations! Whatever you do, don’t make it a meeting. Make it memorable. Make it matter. Focus on the details to make a big statement about the importance of the work.
Summary: Focus on the details to add special touches to the experience.
Location. Location. Location.
There’s a reason airbnb has a category called “OMG!” It’s the same reason artist’s studios are filled with light, color, and the objet d’art. Our environment stimulates us. It’s a source of inspiration.
1 Choose a stimulating location. Consider hip hotels, over the top airbnb’s, co-working spaces, museums and galleries, unique event venues, or public spaces for your location.
Don’t worry. An inspiring space doesn’t automatically mean an expensive space or a fancy place. I once facilitated a brand strategy workshop at picnic tables under a hale (a traditional, thatched roof Hawaiian structure) with a jaw dropping view of the Pacific Ocean. Cost to rent? $0. The team of cultural practitioners networked to find the perfect spot, and you can, too.
Ask your suppliers and service providers if they have an interesting space to share.
Advertising agencies are known for their funky offices. Ask your agency if you can borrow their conference room.
Network with colleagues who work in unique buildings.
Put a call out to your network on LinkedIn.
2 Pick a functional space. People are distracted when they can’t get comfortable. Look for a private, temperature controlled space with big work tables, seating for all, ample wall space to post large worksheets, and nearby areas to break out into small groups.
Confirm that there is WIFI, plenty of electrical outlets to charge, and nearby bathrooms. If the group is larger than 8, a projector and screen will be necessary, too.
3 Decorate. This isn’t your average conference room meeting. Decorations are a signal: This is different. This is special. You are special because you’re here.
Are there fresh flowers? Is there a table runner? Centerpieces? Are there balloons? Is there a DJ and a disco ball? A red carpet entrance? Be creative.
You don’t need an event planner to pull this off. Ask your marketing team to take the lead, or give a team member with a creative flair a chance to show off their skills in an out of the ordinary way.
Pick a theme, serious or silly. Heck, just pick a color! And, follow the golden rule: A little goes a long way.
Choose a location that is as inspiring as it is practical. Add decorations to make it special. Photo: courtesy Airbnb
Be a host.
Who’s party is this anyway? “Many people strive for authority positions because they think it means they'll in effect be the guest of honor at an endless series of banquets,” writes Rob Ashgar, author of Leadership is Hell, for Forbes. “But if you're a leader, you're not the guest of honor at the party. You're the host,”
4 Send invitations. If you want to make the workshop more than a meeting, then put it on people’s calendar in a way they will never forget. Try these ideas:
Send a physical invitation.
Use Paperless Post to send an email invitation.
Make a well thought out speech at your weekly team meeting.
Host a 15-minute Zoom kick-off event.
Send a video email using Loom.
5 Mingle. Good hosts have good manners.
Get there early. Welcome each team member as they arrive.
Stay for breaks. Make time to network throughout the day.
Stay late. Thank everyone as they head out the door and be the last one to leave.
By all means necessary, put your phone away. Set an out of office email alert. Use the workshop as an opportunity to be present with your team. If you focus, so will they.
6 Say thank you. Come prepared with a thank you speech to deliver at the end of the day. Even better, after the workshop send a thank you email or hand written note to each attendee acknowledging their contribution.
TIP: How to Personalize Thank You’s
Bring a small notebook.
Label one page for each participant.
When you see a contribution you want to compliment, make a note until you have a highlight for everyone.
Reference your notes when sending the thank you’s.
Choose healthy snacks and make them available all day, and especially at breaks. Photo: Thought Catalog, Unsplash
Engage.
If people are tired at the end of the day, it’s a good sign that they were fully engaged in the workshop. Our brain uses about 20% of our body’s energy to function. Big thinking takes big brainpower. …It may also require some snacks.
7 Encourage participation. The quality and outcome of any workshop depends on participation. Look for ways to engage the team in the process right from the start.
Delegate planning. Ask team members to take the lead on invitations, food or decorations, for example.
Be prepared to get the conversation started if there’s a lull, step in if things get heated, or encourage introverts to have their say.
Create a safe space for cross-functional input by seeking answers from all team members equally.
8 SNACKS! Fuel the momentum with food. A well fed, well hydrated brain can operate a full power.
That mean’s S-N-A-C-K-S. Try to strike a balance with quick-action sugar and lasting protein in a simple all-day grazing buffet that respects people’s dietary needs. Stock the buffet with chilled, fizzy refreshments, plenty of water, and bottomless hot coffee. Caffeine is a constant craving at a workshop.
If the workshop schedule will overlap any meal of the day, be prepared to offer a solution for the team. Cater a meal at the workshop location to streamline the meal break, or provide a 90-minute break so team members can grab a meal on their own.
Build “bio breaks” into the schedule. These are regular stopping intervals for stretching, snacking, drinking, and using the restroom. If a break isn’t built in, people may not take care of their needs.
9 Give out awards. Boost energy throughout the day with recognition.
Use the workshop as a chance to acknowledge team members that exemplify your values. Create serious or silly trophies, print and frame certificates, or write personal, handwritten cards and present them throughout the day.
Reward participation with a traveling trophy. Each time a particularly noteworthy contribution is made, the trophy moves to that person, who chooses the next awardee. And on and on, until the day is over.
10 Offer amenities. This is your chance to spoil them. Don’t miss it. Ask yourself: What would delight my team? Here are a few brainstorms to get you started:
Take a break in the morning for 15-minutes of yoga.
Bring in a massage therapist to give 10-minute chair massages during lunch.
Offer an afternoon juice or coffee bar; surprise everyone with a delivery of warm cookies.
If you work in a formal environment, bring in a shoe shine station.
Cater lunch from a favorite local restaurant.
Send everyone home with a thank you gift for their spouse, the often overlooked contributors to a company’s success.
If you’re on location somewhere interesting, add a tour of the property to the agenda.
Vika Fleysher, Unsplash
