Making meetings productive and fun: how to transform board meetings into creative, energizing, problem-solving sessions.

It's that time of year again - when busy leaders and boring meetings come together to produce mass frustration. It doesn't have to be that way.

Six months prior to her installation, I called my incoming president, Nan Crowley, a transformational leader who likes to "think outside the box," to see if we could devise a board meeting to plan for her term as elected leader that could be both productive and fun. Here's the dialogue by which Crowley (now the immediate past president) and I set the tone for the many meetings that would follow the initial planning meeting:

Chief staff executive: Let's not do the same-old, same-old. Leaders will be coming to town for a weekend meeting. They will probably expect a meeting in which they will have to listen to a summary of the reports they already have seen in the board books, after which they will vote on some bylaws changes. For an organization doing exciting things, this doesn't sound very exciting to me.

Chief elected officer: You're right. After all, what are they going to do, fire the president they elected? After years of going to meetings like the one you just described, I want the board members to enjoy what they are doing, and I want them to focus on the big picture, not the "administrivia." I always wondered why we had to follow an agenda that was packed with items that did not really require my presence, and certainly didn't seem to require what I brought to the table as an active, committed volunteer. I don't want the members of the board to leave feeling that, once again, their valuable time has been wasted, or that we've done the same old stuff.

I want them to feel like they've enjoyed themselves, yet accomplished something for the association. After all, they are giving up a lot of time, and this is one of the three times that I will have the benefit of their collective minds during my term. Let's think of some activities that will use their talents, and they'll have some fun.

Chief staff executive: The first thing we need to do is separate all the administrative items that require a vote, but rarely need any discussion. Let's put those items in a consent agenda we can send to everyone ahead of time, and let's put that item on the agenda just before lunch so that no one feels compelled to spend a lot of time discussing it.

Chief elected officer: Great - let's put the approval of the last meeting's minutes, the ratification of appointments, the ratification of the personnel policies that were reviewed and approved last year, and the ratification of insurance vendors in a consent agenda, along with any housekeeping changes to our bylaws or procedures. They can read the background in the board books before they arrive so that we don't have to spend board time reviewing it. Let's make sure they know they can call either of us if they have any questions about these items.

Chief staff executive: Let's make a list of the items that need to be discussed, dividing it into agenda items that are still at the stage of exploration, which means they require creativity and expansion, and items that need some kind of decision by the end of the meeting. We can then structure activities around these two different kinds of discussions. We need to develop ways that will help the board think in a less linear fashion - ways that will activate their right brains.

Chief elected officer: And let's not forget to establish an atmosphere that encourages creativity and openness. We need to create a comfortable environment that people will enjoy, one in which people can laugh as well as learn. We need to remember that the board members work in positions for which they are used to using their more logical, hierarchical left brains. The association needs the creative application of their experience, so we need them to be thinking outside of those boxes. Before the association's problems can be solved, they need to be explored and analyzed from a variety of perspectives. So I really need the board members to be very involved and engaged in the subject matter. I need them to interact with the information, as opposed to reacting to it. That's how we'll turn information into knowledge the association can use.

Initial planning dialogues with new chief elected officers - like the dialogue framed in the preceding paragraphs - have generated a wide variety of creative techniques that have become an integral part of meetings at Financial Women International, Arlington, Virginia. For 76 years, FWI has been connecting women in all segments of the financial services industry and empowering them to meet their professional, economic, and personal goals. With nearly 8,000 members in six countries, in a highly competitive industry that continues to experience dramatic changes, FWI has a lot of challenges to face. As with any association, leadership meetings are the primary vehicles we have for problem solving and policy setting.

Following are some of the activities we have relied upon, all of which have proven themselves to be highly productive as well as enjoyable.

Creating the environment

* Paper the walls with quotes related to the purpose of the meeting - planning, leadership, communication, problem solving. Ask each leader to post his or her favorite quotation - then ask everyone to guess which quote comes from which leader. You can change the quotes after each break - you can even post jokes if you want, or meaningful statements voiced by leaders earlier in the meeting.

* Scatter toys across the table. Carry a bag filled with Slinky spring toys, Play-Doh modeling compound, Koosh balls, bubbles, jacks, pipe cleaners, squeezable stress balls, small building blocks, and other such items - or ask people to BYOT (bring your own toy). Toys are great for dissipating nervous energy and emotions. They also provide a focal point beyond what is being discussed, enabling one to "see" beyond the confining walls of the problem.

A favorite mascot at FWI's meetings is a stuffed horse that appears when someone is discussing a topic to death. It's a clever, funny, and gentle way for anyone to indicate that the group is beating a dead horse.

* Use icebreakers and energizers - not only at the beginning of the meeting but after lunch, at the end of the day, when tensions are high, or when energy is low. Use jokes, riddles, and brain teasers to vary the pace and surprise the participants. Two excellent resources are Saying Hello by Lois Hart, and Energizers by John E. Jones and William L Bearley, both published in 1989 by Organizational Design and Development, Inc., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

* Encourage people to get up and move around during the meeting. Alter the seating after breaks. Hold some of your discussions standing up.

* Consider going "business casual" for your meetings, which means comfortable clothes but no jeans or sweatsuits. You'd be surprised how much more productive you can be when everyone is comfortable.

Preparing participants for creative problem solving 

* Break attendees into small groups often throughout the meeting. Have them count off by birthdate, by middle initial, by title, by the order in which they entered the room, and so forth. The greater the variety, the better. Not only does it put different minds together, but it makes the meeting more interesting because participants never know how they will be divided.

* Use mind-mapping to generate ideas around a topic, to develop different ways to market a product, or to identify vehicles and audiences for messages. To do a mind-map, write a central concept in the middle of a large sheet of paper. Give everyone in the group a magic marker to write down the thoughts that occur to him or her, drawing the thoughts as branches off the central topic. To encourage right brain, creative activity, tell participants that they cannot talk during the activity. As new concepts appear, meeting participants with new thoughts can draw secondary branches as well. My favorite reference for this creative technique is Mapping Inner Space by Nancy Margulies, Zephyr Press, Tucson, Arizona (1991).

* Brainstorm a list of topics that need further elaboration. Give participants large, colorful Post-it notes on which they can write ideas that fit the topic. Tape the topics around the room and have everyone affix ideas under the topics.

* Divide the group into pros and cons. Have participants stand in lines facing each other. Ask the first person to state a reason for proceeding in a particular direction. Then have the first person in the con line respond with a counterargument. Continue the process until all sides of the issue have been aired.

* Stand in a circle. Throw a Koosh ball or other safe object from one person to another, asking the catcher to state an idea. You'd be surprised how ranch will be generated in this fast-paced activity.

Directing dialogue to decision making

* On individual flip charts, post all the possible decisions that could be made. Organize people into groups, asking each group to pretend that the decision that is on the group's flip chart is the best one for the association. Ask each group to prepare a compelling, five-minute presentation selling the decision. Suggest that board members be as creative as possible, encouraging them to use props and visual aids.

* Do the reverse: Ask each group to argue against the decision on its flip chart.

* Ask each group to draw a vertical line down the chart that has the possible decision written on it. Have participants write the pros on one side of the line and the cons on the other. Once that has been done, ask the small group to make the decision that seems to make sense and then sell it to the others.

* Post possible decisions around the room. Ask people to vote for the decision by standing near the sign that states it. Ask the groups to sell the decision to the others, rising the flip chart to list the reasons why it is the best decision.

* To test how strongly people feel about a decision, use the opposite corners of the longest wall to represent the polar opposites of "strongly agree" and "strongly disagree." Ask participants to position themselves along the wall in a spot that corresponds with how they feel about the decision and then to discuss it with the people to their right and left.

We have found that meetings that use a variety of techniques such as the ones just discussed generate a lot of ideas, energy, and enthusiasm among the participants. These techniques encourage creativity, as well as buy-in, to the decisions that have been made.

You won't believe the difference that creating this atmosphere will make. Your board and committee members will have a positive, collaborative, and enjoyable experience as they help your organization move forward. Everyone - professional staff and volunteer leaders alike - will leave the meeting rejuvenated and fully aware of how much has been accomplished.

Gale S. Wood, CAE, is executive director of Financial Women International, in Arlington, Virginia. Her e-mail address is [e-mail].