When I was an HR Director in the hospitality industry, we relied on our sales department to book a lot of meetings and special events in the off season to keep our banquet, rooms and restaurant staff working. Without the tourists or vacationers, the resort would be a quiet and unprofitable. In a recent article, “Benchmark names top 10 meeting trends of 2011,” the news was good. The article predicted more meetings and more business travel in 2011. Great news! Some of the trends were confirmation of things that I had written about in previous blogs, which was confirmation of what I had seen while traveling on my own. Some make sense for a more budget conscious business traveler responsible for getting the job done out of town and keeping expenses down.
After the austerity programs and doom-and-gloom attitude of the recession, the emphasis is on having fun (again) and getting more value for the money. Some of the old programs are coming back with a new twist.
Teambuilding became popular in the 80’s and 90’s with the introduction of Edwards Deming and Total Quality Management (TQM). Philip Crosby introduced the concept of Quality Circles, and we were off and running trying to take our independent-minded employees into happy, functional teams, working together for a common good. I worked with a large technical college on a culture change initiative, going from an autocratic management style to TQM and collaborative teams. It was a struggle, with the toughest nuts being the managers and Executive staff that were reluctant to give up their power. For 2011, teambuilding will take on more of the reality show format…the Biggest Losers or Survivor. Picture teams competing in the style of Iron Chef. The emphasis will be on interaction, competition, testing the limits and FUN. And all this within a tight budget.
Companies will be looking for value, and that means more perks and extras. Free Internet access will be expected. Hotels or other businesses that charge may find themselves out of the running for business. Another attractive perk will be forgiveness in the form of waiving late fees, cancellation fees, and rentals for basic presentation equipment.
New technology for presentations, the ability to videotape presentations and meetings and then post them to YouTube, and cost savings over “going green” are other trends to watch for. And if you want to get in the running, be sure your websites are easy to navigate and clear in their message. Meeting planners are doing their homework, looking for the best value, and they are doing it on the Web.
Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a workplace consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for BusinessWorkForce.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing Alto II with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and creating original gift items available on http://www.etsy.spoolhardy.com/. You can read more of her blogs at businessworkforceblog.com and view additional job postings on Nexxt.
After the austerity programs and doom-and-gloom attitude of the recession, the emphasis is on having fun (again) and getting more value for the money. Some of the old programs are coming back with a new twist.
Teambuilding became popular in the 80’s and 90’s with the introduction of Edwards Deming and Total Quality Management (TQM). Philip Crosby introduced the concept of Quality Circles, and we were off and running trying to take our independent-minded employees into happy, functional teams, working together for a common good. I worked with a large technical college on a culture change initiative, going from an autocratic management style to TQM and collaborative teams. It was a struggle, with the toughest nuts being the managers and Executive staff that were reluctant to give up their power. For 2011, teambuilding will take on more of the reality show format…the Biggest Losers or Survivor. Picture teams competing in the style of Iron Chef. The emphasis will be on interaction, competition, testing the limits and FUN. And all this within a tight budget.
Companies will be looking for value, and that means more perks and extras. Free Internet access will be expected. Hotels or other businesses that charge may find themselves out of the running for business. Another attractive perk will be forgiveness in the form of waiving late fees, cancellation fees, and rentals for basic presentation equipment.
New technology for presentations, the ability to videotape presentations and meetings and then post them to YouTube, and cost savings over “going green” are other trends to watch for. And if you want to get in the running, be sure your websites are easy to navigate and clear in their message. Meeting planners are doing their homework, looking for the best value, and they are doing it on the Web.
Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a workplace consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for BusinessWorkForce.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing Alto II with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and creating original gift items available on http://www.etsy.spoolhardy.com/. You can read more of her blogs at businessworkforceblog.com and view additional job postings on Nexxt.
Become a member to take advantage of more features, like commenting and voting.
Register or sign in today!