It is a few days out from the intensity of our officer's retreat and I have been thinking about what worked best.
In order to keep meetings from dragging and turning into grueling sessions of room-coma, nodding napping and secret Words with Friends playing, I try and mix things around—one agenda item over dinner, one sitting outside on benches, one in small groups that report back, etc.
Aloft has a very nice bar with cool conversation corners and the lobby view of the flats.
The next day at the conclusion of the meeting, I used a closing exercise in which we stood and talked about one take-away and one appreciation for another person in the circle. I was struck by how many people cited the experience of one-on-one conversations as a highlight experience. Despite the fact that we have all known each other for years, and are often in large group situations together, setting aside time to really get to know someone one-on-one and in a deeper way had a profound effect on not just each pair, but the group as a whole.
We plan on using the experience in our larger group meetings in November to expand the circle of relationships and build a better team in the large group council of leaders.
In order to keep meetings from dragging and turning into grueling sessions of room-coma, nodding napping and secret Words with Friends playing, I try and mix things around—one agenda item over dinner, one sitting outside on benches, one in small groups that report back, etc.
meeting at board table
meeting over dinner
much more fun
This year during the Happy Hour break we put all of our names in a hat and picked pairs of conversation partners. Whoever wound up paired spent Happy Hour together in a structured
conversation: What is your story? How did you get to this profession?
What have you accomplished in your role as an officer that you feel
really good about?Aloft has a very nice bar with cool conversation corners and the lobby view of the flats.
view from lobby balcony
The next day at the conclusion of the meeting, I used a closing exercise in which we stood and talked about one take-away and one appreciation for another person in the circle. I was struck by how many people cited the experience of one-on-one conversations as a highlight experience. Despite the fact that we have all known each other for years, and are often in large group situations together, setting aside time to really get to know someone one-on-one and in a deeper way had a profound effect on not just each pair, but the group as a whole.
We plan on using the experience in our larger group meetings in November to expand the circle of relationships and build a better team in the large group council of leaders.
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