The New York Times recently featured an article about how
tapping into the power of the right brain can enhance meetings and improve productivity. The point of the article was simple; if you want to spur creativity, capture and hold attention, and promote innovation and interaction, you need to create a space that stimulates the creative, social side of the brain -
the right side.
The left side of the brain is all about linear stuff - spreadsheets, lists, agendas and outlines. It's predictable, straightforward - and to most people, boring. On the other hand, the right brain thrives on non-linear activity - games and play, unusual activities, and non-predictable interactivity. It's fun, engaging and creative. So how do you tap into your team's right hemispheres?
Here are a few tips from the experts:
Keep them moving
"People tend to shut down if they can't get up and move around," notes Stacy Evans, executive administrator at Cisco Systems. Break up your meetings with games, stretching breaks, physically active exercises and other activities. Or hold the meeting outside in a beautiful setting and walk while you talk, stopping for breakaway sessions and rest periods as needed.
Get comfortable
"Hard wooden chairs don't do it anymore," says Meeting Professionals International chief executive Bruce MacMillan. Instead of a bunch of hard seats around a conference table, hold your meeting in a setting comprised of several small and comfortable seating arrangements. Not only will this help you keep your participants attention on the meeting (instead of their aching rear ends), it'll help promote conversation and breakaway groups.
Have fun
Play is a great way to stimulate the right side of the brain. It can be as simple as putting toys out on the tables or as complicated as a day-long scavenger hunt. No matter what level you choose, injecting play into your meeting will help participants tap into their creative energy, cross-pollinate ideas and relax into broader, more innovative thinking.
Enhance sensory input
Create a sense-stimulating environment to really rev up right-brain thinking. Colorful furnishings, art, live flowers, unusual foods and beverages, music, aromatherapy - all these things can turn on participants senses and turn up their creativity. The human mind is like any other thinking machine - the greater and more diverse the input, the better and more interesting the output.
Mix it up
Keep your participants' minds from getting stale by mixing up activities. Have a sit-down discussion in the morning over breakfast, then break out into walking discussion groups in the afternoon. Reconvene after dinner for an evening of games and creative brainstorming. On day two, start the day with a guided meditation, then split off into conversation groups to continue yesterday's discussions. The less predictable and more interesting the schedule, the more likely you are to jog loose something wonderful.
Bringing the right side of the brain into your meetings may mean using unfamiliar methodology, but the results can be incredible. Speaking about a sales conference that netted a 40 to 50 percent increase in sales (significantly above the normal "conference boost"), GroupSystems product management senior director Diana Peterson said, "It was about getting people in the right frame of mind…breaking down barriers, getting people talking and making decisions they might not make because maybe they feel more daring." And that's a result worth getting excited about.
 | Written on 11/21/2008 by David Bohl. David shares the viral message Slow Down FAST and helps people raise the roof on all facets of their lives without risking implosion. Get some must-haves here. | Photo Credit: AlexanderK |