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Coffee and conversations (View Comments)
Sheetal Srivastava
Posted On Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 05:04:41 PM
Most organisations these days are going the unconventional way and are using informal ways of conducting meetings/conferences
What if your office one day decides to conduct employee interactions with the CEO over breakfast at a coffee shop? Such meetings may not be conducted necessarily to discuss work-related matters but they indirectly help create a healthy work environment, say experts. “Companies are engaging in informal meetings as it is easier to connect and the flow of ideas and opinions is more honest from both sides of the table. The need for this arose, when it was realised that for a free exchange of thoughts, it’s important to create a comfortable and an interactive platform. The seriousness of a meeting room is often very pressurising for a junior employee and he or she prefers to be a listener and that restricts an open conversation,” says Rani Desai, VP and head, HR & organisational development, Geometric.
“Also, when a team sits on a lunch table together, they feel like they are with peers and not their bosses,” she further adds. “It’s true that more and more corporates these days are using informal ways of conducting meetings. As younger people are entering the corporate world, the old set-up is definitely undergoing a change. I believe that using informal ways of conducting meetings does help in boosting team-building and increasing productivity levels, especially amongst the younger generation,” notes Rahul Kulkarni, head - HR, Kale Consultants.
“Meetings conducted in informal settings, away from the office, give executives a chance to forget their usual distractions of phone calls, emails and allow them to concentrate on the topic of the meeting to generate creative solutions,” says Meenal Gupta, manager, talent engagement & development, Wipro. Geometric has a number of initiatives, where not only the immediate manager, but also business unit heads interact with employees over a cup of coffee. Teams are also encouraged to go out for company-sponsored lunches/dinners/excursions to strengthen the feeling of ‘us’ as opposed to ‘me’. Some teams also car-pool together and discuss business strategies and plans while travelling. “We also have a number of cultural events that encourage people to come together and spend time with each other. There are also some teams, which organise ‘Friday Activity’ in which team members discuss mythology, world history, astronomy, astrology and other non-work related topics. Alternatively, there are also creative sessions where one of the team members teaches a new art or craft to the rest,” adds Desai. Kale Consultants also uses an informal way of conducting meetings.
Wipro conducts coffee/lunch sessions with senior executives where employees get a chance to discuss topics in a free flowing manner. For example, in one of the business units, the business unit head meets a small group of employees every quarter and discusses a business priority and seeks their opinion on the issue. “These meetings are also used as a way of bringing together teams that work at client sites and are therefore, not able to connect on a regular basis. Periodically, we conduct offsite workshops for different teams. These workshops are used for planning, reviews and team-building,” adds Gupta.
“In an organisation, there are people from diverse backgrounds and different ideologies who work together, so they are bound to have conflicting ideas. Such activities help to break the ice and create a comfortable environment wherein everyone can openly put forth his or her ideas,” expresses Desai.
For any working environment, it’s very important that the employees feel comfortable with their superiors. A majority of today’s workforce comprises of youngsters who tend to get bored with repetitive work very easily. So it is important that some change in the daily grind is introduced in different forms. This helps them to enhance their confidence, skills and productivity and pave the way for an open and transparent communication. After all, it’s not only about ‘all work and no play’, right?
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