Have your offsites become more challenging because your work force has a blend of millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers — and soon, Gen Z will join the mix? Professionals in their 20s may seem all-consumed with digital communication, but the truth is they welcome face-to-face meetings when they are purposeful and productive. Who doesn’t want that?
“With new tools and technologies — and a bit of an ‘evolved’ attitude toward meetings in the workplace — we’re simply doing things a little differently in the digital age,” states Sarah Landrum, a millennial digital marketing specialist who also provides career coaching and writes about how her generation can be more engaged at work.
What do millennials and Gen Z workers want from meetings? Landrum recently offered these insights on Forbes.com:
- Strong leadership – Millennials don’t have time for meetings that don’t have a strong voice taking point. This is particularly grating for a generation used to seeing results and satisfaction nearly instantly. “If you see a leadership role not being filled, fill it,” Landrum implores. “If you see interest or leadership flagging, don’t feel bad about speaking up and getting things back on the right track. Meetings were never supposed to be a one-sided lecture-type experience. Under millennial stewardship, they’re once more becoming genuinely collaborative experiences.”
- Fewer and shorter meetings – “We don’t need a lot of 15-person, knights-of-the-round-table meetings anymore. We can do far more with far less,” says Landrum. Keep this in mind as you decide who attends offsite events. And even at multi-day offsites, meetings can be “chunked up” into shorter sessions.
- Put some thought behind your venues – Don’t wait for annual sales kickoffs or President’s Club celebrations to go offsite. Taking more meetings off campus can generate enthusiasm, increase engagement and improve their productivity. “It’s well established that simply changing your surroundings can kick off a creative sprint, help you get stuff done and even think about challenges in ways you might not have considered,” says Landrum.
Food matters
The team at MeetingsImagined.com, a division of Marriott, says millennials appreciate meetings that put thought behind meals. They cite research that shows millennials view meals as a time to socialize. Every meal and break should be staged in comfortable networking environments (think lounge chairs or bar-like settings).
Because this generation likes instant gratification, avoid structures that lead to long lines for food by placing appetizers, snacks and beverages at multiple stations whenever possible. Stocking a station where drinks and snacks are available during a meeting also keeps people engaged.
Studies show millennials prefer to graze. The three-course, sit-down meal is not as popular among this group. Of course, healthy options (think vegan) are a must. Fresh and sustainable food and beverage choices are increasingly popular across all generations.
Don’t forget that millennials are used to being connected digitally and love to multitask. Even if your meeting doesn’t require internet connection, it should be provided so they can check in with family, friends or colleagues.
Customize, customize, customize
In its report, “What Millennials Want in Meetings,” Meetings Means Business, an industry-wide coalition of meetings industry professionals, explains that customizing meeting formats to suit the audience and the purpose is an increasing trend. There are more options for pop-up educational opportunities and open-space learning.
“Prefunction space is the new meeting space because attendees can come and go depending on their satisfaction with the specific content, and it tends to spur more casual and spontaneous conversations,” the report states. “People in all age groups are questioning the traditional one-way speaker lecture format, but none more so than millennials. The speaker/ captive audience dynamic still has a lot of value of course, but planners should add audience participation apps like Slido.com and Conferences.io to develop live polls and inspire audiences to ask questions.” (See the sidebar for four other tips from Meetings Means Business for creating millennial-friendly meetings.)
Millennials “don’t want their father’s meeting. They want something new and different and unique,” Sharon Fisher, chief idea sparker at Play With a Purpose, recently told Meetings.net. Even with work meetings, this generation wants Instagram-worthy moments. That could be meeting with the CEO or someone else in top management. “They want to be able to show their friends via social media that they were a part of a unique event and interesting conversations.”
Author
Get our newsletter and digital focus reports
Stay current on learning and development trends, best practices, research, new products and technologies, case studies and much more.
