Staff meetings need not be the monotonous or a dull gathering of people that they usually are at some workplaces. With some preplanning and efforts, you can make staff meetings fun for the participants and productive for the team as well. Get starting with icebreaker games, and induce liveliness into the meeting with different inventive ways of presenting meeting content and small refreshing breaks in between.

The Opening

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Start the meeting with something light. Request the participants to share a joke with the others in the room. Ask the others to vote for the joke. Have every person in the room participate. Award the person whose joke receives the most votes.

Breaking the Ice

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Consider implementing this icebreaker game to have participants relaxed and get to know each other in case they are new. Pair up participants, and have them sit in a back-to-back position. Let them have a conversation. Once they complete the conversation, they sit face-to-face and have the same conversation. Participants should discuss how they felt with each type of conversation. Which was better and why? Have them write their findings and discuss them in the meeting. In addition to being fun, this activity can surprise participants as they get to know different aspects of communication.

Engaging Presentations

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Use different methods to present the meeting content. For example, say the purpose of your meeting is to inform participants of the new policies and training that you are about to introduce. Deliver the content in the form of a verbal or visual presentation or whatever medium you have chosen. After you complete the presentation, ask participants to form groups of five to eight people. Assign them with the task of developing a song, skit, dance or any other activity to explain the meeting highlights.

Another presentation method you could consider is to use posters on the walls of the room. Posters should present problems that your ongoing meeting seeks to address. They can ask, "How can we better our customer service?" or "What are the different channels to reach customers?" Participants should walk around the room, read the problems and come up with possible solutions. They should write their ideas on an adhesive notepad and stick it on the poster below the question. After the brainstorming session ends, go around the room with your team reading each solution and evaluating the feasibility of each suggestions through discussions.

Give Them a Break

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Allow any participant(s) to call for a break during the meeting to visit the restroom, stretch himself or have some food. Set an alarm for 15 or more minutes, and resume the meeting after the set time. Start the meeting with the summary of the last session.