Meetings That Move Things Forward

Today’s work environment is meeting intensive. In-person meetings and conference calls can take up a lot of our valuable workday. Here are 3 tips that can make effective use of your time and move projects forward.

Set and send out your agenda beforehand. Include how much time you intend to spend on each topic – including answering questions. This allows you to think through meeting priorities and stay focused. Adding times will also cut down on rambling sidebars.

Assign people and timeframes to all action items to ensure timely completion. Send out a follow-up email or memo with the names and dates, and between meetings check in regularly with each person to offer assistance and check on progress.

Include an update on the agenda for the next meeting so the entire team experiences the forward momentum, and to recognize and reward those involved in achievements.

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The Real Benefits of Company Wellness Programs 

Corporate Wellness programs appear to be losing steam across the country. According to the Wall Street Journal, companies find them expensive and the ROI they expected – lower health insurance costs – isn’t what they anticipated.

But Huffington Post contributor Henry Albrecht says they may be overlooking the real benefits. Wellness and well-being programs nurture employee engagement and satisfaction – two key factors in retention and productivity.   He sites a recent Gallup poll that found that those who were engaged and reported good well-being were 27 percent more likely to report that their work performance was excellent.

Albrecht sites another study from the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine that tracked the stock performance of 54 publicly–traded companies with high-scoring wellness programs.   Those companies outperformed the 500 largest US companies on the S&P 500 by 235% over a six year period.

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5 Steps to Improve or Establish A Company Wellness Program

A recent Gallup poll found that people who are engaged at work and report good well-being are 27 percent more likely to say that their work performance is excellent. Wellness programs foster engagement and job satisfaction, two big factors in retention and productivity.

If you’re establishing a wellness or well-being program, or breathing new life into an existing program, Gallup recommends these 5 tips.

Strongly encourage participation in wellness activities when setting job expectations. Recognize employees for their well-being achievements.

Link each activity to one of Gallup’s five elements of well-being: purpose, social, financial, community and physical. This will add depth and dimension to making employees feel cared about.

Solicit employee ideas and incorporate them into your offerings. Finally, include well-being goal setting and milestones in work review and progress meetings.