On Friday, we shut down early and did our own version of a Town Hall meeting. Our CEO gave us the latest run down of our business direction, money in the bank, our production schedule, and that type of stuff (actually using the most recent Board presentation as an outline).We got to ask lots of questions, and voice concerns. Employees have tremendous insight and are closer to the product and problems than anyone else - engaging them as often as possible is a good strategy. We also rang our Gong (which marks milestones and major achievements) and noted all the hard work that went into the newest software release and website upgrade.
To wrap things up, we had some wine and tried our hand at trivia - based on company and employee fun facts. None of us knew Matt, our Product Manager, has eaten 40 McNuggets in a sitting or that our third most common customer service call was about the EDU discount. Good to know.
I then managed to hurt myself playing Rock Band. But it was worth it - it was great to get to know those we spend so much time with a bit better, and to just enjoy their company. If you don't do something like this regularly, you should be.
I love this idea. We have regular monthly staff meetings where we announce project updates and other administrative stuff, but it really just comes down to 1 or 2 people giving a report. I think framing it as a town hall is a great forum where you really feel like you can jump in with questions. And the idea of coming up with trivia about the company and employees is great. Sounds like it strikes a nice balance between fun and learning about your own organization.
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