How to spur creativity and engagement all year long

You’ve been to those boring meetings where the manager drones on with sales goals data and flip-chart scribbling. Maybe you’ve led a few yourself. How much of it was memorable? How much of it was motivating? How many people actually showed up (or even wanted to)?

Believe it or not, there are ways to have meetings that not only capture attention and are well-attended but also foster engagement and get the creative juices flowing all year long.

We’re all looking at Google and wondering how we can create a corporate culture that attracts motivated and talented people. Most of us don’t have budgets for slides and sushi bars. Besides, in real estate our key players aren’t in the office that much. So how do we get them in the door and engage them with fun?

The secret is in your calendar, and here are a few fun ways to use that calendar to your advantage to have more engaging meetings.

First, take note of holidays — especially fun ones — like St. Patrick’s Day, popular sports events like the Olympics and even oddball days like National Donut Day (that’s June 3, by the way) to spur your creativity.

Then try a few of these ideas:

• Start off a meeting with a Master’s Tournament golf trivia quiz.
• Plan a five-minute roast of yourself on Boss’s Day.
• Take time to recognize those who served on Veterans Day — a company that cares is just as attractive as a fun one.
• You can give prizes for certain contest events, but don’t feel obligated to make it an every week expectation unless you have the budget for it.

Once you can delve into the topics at hand, keep the mood light and open to conversation and ideas. If you’re feeling clever, interject some theme-based anecdotes or humor. Be the culture you want to convey — show your young agents what makes a good leader.

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To spur some friendly interoffice competition and increase sales, make an incentive-based contest themed around a sporting event. For March Madness, we pitted brokerages across the country against one another to narrow the Sweet 16 down to a national champion (based on listing contracts in a given week). To be fair, we calculated handicaps for our smaller brokerages.

Here’s another example: timed around St. Patrick’s Day, our four-leaf clover of “4 keys to agent success” was created as a training tool. Long after the holiday, this memorable icon will be remembered and used for effective training. Paired with some awesome green eats (green beer optional), you’ll spur creativity and idea sharing.

Imagine the attendance you’d have if employees and agents looked forward to the next meeting. Think of the ideas you’d garner if you foster a fun, creative environment. You might even have a little fun yourself planning shenanigans while reaping the benefits of increased productivity.

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Chris Rediger is the co-founder and president of Redefy Real Estate. Learn more about Chris and Redefy on Twitter or Facebook.

Email Chris Rediger.