Corporate meetings don’t have to be a snooze. We know, these typically aren’t the most exciting things to plan or attend. But with a little bit of effort, they can be a lot of fun. If you (and your employees) are feeling a little lackluster about your next company extravaganza, here are some tips for throwing a corporate event that will inspire and restore employee morale.
How to Put on an Exciting Corporate Event
Use Visuals and Music
To keep things interesting and actually ensure your employees walk away from your event having learned something, incorporate visuals and music, or some kind of audio.
Whether you add a little bit of entertainment with audio clips n your powerpoint slide, show statistics, or play an educational video, just make sure to add some stimulation and variation to keep people interested and attentive.
The internet is a great place to find free resources like videos, photos, and short sound clips. If you’re interested in creating original and reusable content for your company, it’s also a great place to find freelancers or local businesses who might be able to help.
Add a Little Humor
Comic relief goes a long way at any work event, especially when those that involve long days of learning and presentations.
That being said, if you can make fun of yourself or make small, well-thought-out jokes about some of your employees–do it. This can really show that you’ve taken the time to get to know the people working for you and also creates a feeling of camaraderie in the workplace. If you choose to put on a mini roast at some point throughout the day, just make sure whoever you talk about has a good sense of humor.
Give Out Awards
This is an easy way to inspire employees and get everyone interested. Who doesn’t love a little recognition?
Give your stand-out employees some acknowledgment by breaking the event up with a mini award ceremony. You can purchase different levels and types of awards on the internet or at a local design shop. Go crazy and get something fancy or stick with certificates, which are budget-friendly, but still get the job done.
Let Your Employees Mingle
While it’s true that you need to get down to business and discuss important company topics during the meeting, you should also allow employees to get a little socializing in. Let everyone mingle during a twenty to thirty-minute break or allow some time for everyone to chat after the meeting. If you have a strong workplace culture, this will mean a lot to everyone. If you don’t, letting your employees have some time to get to know each other is a great step toward building one.
Have Giveaways
Is there anyone out there who doesn’t love getting free stuff? Hand out little gifts like extra office supplies and fun desk accessories, or take it to the next level and purchase some gift cards to give away.
If you go the gift card route, Amazon and Visa gift cards are always a pretty safe bet. Some of our other favorites are local restaurants, spa experiences, and gas cards.
Make Sure Your Speaking Points are Clear and Relatively Concise
If your corporate event involves presentations and speeches that you are responsible for putting together, make sure you take the time to plan them out. This is for your benefit and the benefit of your employees. You don’t want to waste anyone’s time–including your own.
If you’re hitting the points you know you need to discuss, you’ll feel comfortable in front of everyone, and you’ll also be able to end the day knowing your employees got the value they needed from the whole event. Ideally, you’ll be able to see the results of that effort within your company when everyone returns to work.
Bring in a Guest Speaker
If possible, it’s always great to bring in the pros when it comes to putting on a great show. Motivational speakers are a great when it comes toway to getting everyone feeling alert and excited. For starters, we all just need a little pick me up sometime. Having someone who has experience with lifting people up and inspiring them will help set the tone for your event and also guarantee that everyone will feel like they gained something from this experience. If your team can apply the talk to even one area of their lives, you’ll likely see an improvement in their overall energy and attitude. We’d say it’s probably worth it, even if it is just a short little talk
Offer Food and Drink
If there’s one thing everyone looks forward to when forced to sit through long work events, it’s food and being able to get out of the office for a few minutes.
Make this part worth everyone’s while. If your employees have full bellies and know they get to look forward to awesome food at meal and snack times, you’ll probably get a lot more excitement and engagement out of them. Not to mention loyalty.
Get Feedback
This might seem like a pretty minor thing, but as a business owner, it’s one of the most important things you can do. These events are to inspire your employees, and the biggest reason to care about that is the simple fact that happy employees are the key to success.
The best way to put on a good corporate event is to ask people what they want. Get some feedback from the attendees and be sure to take notes for the future. Contact the corporate event planning experts at MTI Events; they can help ensure that your next event goes smoothly.
