Sharon Fisher, CEO and “idea sparker” of Play with a Purpose, runs seminars at industry events such as IMEX America on how meeting planners can persuade their executives to allow them to alter some meeting activities to make them more energetic—and, dare we say, fun.
At one recent seminar, Fisher noted that “planner clients frequently come to me and say, ‘I believe in having fun and making meetings more interactive. But my boss doesn’t get it; he doesn’t see the value in doing something too different than before.’”
For planners to be more persuasive in the C-suite, Fisher offers four strategies:
1. "I have a sheet that I call, 'Learn, Feel, Do," she says. "I put those headings in three columns and let stakeholders talk about what their goals are for each of them. For example, in a sales meeting, the goal would be for attendees to learn about product attributes, then feel inspired and confident about the company, and the 'do' part would be for the attendee to buy or distribute the product."
If you can break down the objectives for the meeting visually and spell out how a new activity will help reach those goals, the decision-makers will be more likely to understand your pitch.
2. Keep your bosses informed about current meeting trends so that when you come to them with a new approach or activity, it doesn't appear to be a completely foreign idea that's coming from left field. "I advise planners to send a steady drip of information over time—not so much that it is overwhelming, but enough that executives have a sense of changes in the industry and what comparable companies are doing."
3. Find an ally. There is always someone in senior leadership who understands the value of taking a different approach or having a bit of fun, and they are likely more receptive to new ideas. Include them in your "drips of information" and go to them with ideas you'd like to implement before pitching them to other leaders. For instance, you might find an ally in a different division of your company, or in a satellite office, where some of the practices you want to bring to your meetings have already been implemented.
4. Start small. It may take a while to change the culture of your company or attendees, so build on incremental changes at each meeting such that people can adapt without feeling too uncomfortable, Fisher says. This way, when you do want to make a larger change you'll be able to say, “We did X last year and Y the year before, and they worked well. so, I’d like to do Z this year.” It seems less of a risk to the decision-maker if you point to previous alterations that were well received.
Fisher adds that “I’ve never had a planner say that something bombed and as a result, they were banned from doing anything out of the ordinary again. Sometimes things don’t work out the way they were planned, but I’ve never heard of a disaster. Remember that attendees are interested in new ways to learn and to interact at conferences, so your ideas will be well received even if the initial execution is a little shaky."
Finally, Fisher reminds planners that if they feel stuck in a rut, it could be their own doing and not that of the company leadership. “You might assume that changing the old ways will simply be too hard. But sometimes leadership is looking to you to make changes because the times require it, so find the time to explore new things and apply them creatively to your group.”
