The Importance Of Having Casual Business Meetings Outside Of Your Organization

Traditionally, the workplace is a formal setting. Many suits are going around, documents to shuffle and work to do. Memos are drafted and sent out before meetings are held, and everyone has to show up in the boardroom or wherever the meeting is being held, fully formally dressed and ready for the conference, with their laptops in hand.

Then the PowerPoint presentation is rolled out, and the agendas are put on the table. Each of the parties present gives their thoughts and contributions to the matter at hand. After the meeting, tasks are assigned, and everyone goes back to their cubicle or office space. It is a very, very formal structure.

The problem, though, remains that these meetings can be monotonous, and we all know (and by we, I mean you and me) that variety is the spice of life. Such arrangements can quickly become dreary and something you do not look forward to. It becomes boring, and participants often want to get it over with as soon as possible. 

What can be done to solve this problem and inject life into workplace meetings? The answer is simple: have the panels in an informal setting outside the business organization. There are so many reasons for this, and we'll be listing them out (yeah, I said we. You and I will be listing them out, so put on your thinking cap.)

Reasons Why Meetings Outside of the Organization Outperform Meetings held within the organization's walls.

1- It injects Life into the Party

Within the walls of the organization, it is business as usual, and things can get a little tense. Everyone tries to be careful, so they don't make errors. Generally, it makes the environment more choking. As a result, these meetings can become drab. When held outside the workplace, though (in a cafe, for example), your team members become less tense. Thus, they loosen up and bring out their fun side. They can freely crack jokes because the environment is one of freedom.

2- It stimulates Creativity 

The best ideas come in the shower. That is a well-known fact. Why is that, though? Ponder this for a bit.

I said you should ponder it. Stop and think about why your best ideas come to you in the shower. Yes, stop. Don't read on yet.

Are you done thinking? Well, what do you think is the reason? If you answer that you are more relaxed when you are in the shower, you are correct. The same thing happens when you're retiring for the night, at peace in your bed. All the ideas flow.

By relaxing the mind, you can create this atmosphere that inspires a cascade of thoughts. This is what informal meeting places like cafes do. They help you relax and spur your mind into thinking up creative solutions to problems your organization faces. Now imagine recreating that with your team. You will have a tsunami of ideas, at least more than you will have in a tense work setting.

There are so many examples of big organizations that have taken advantage of this. For example, Google built its organization to promote freedom of ideas. How? They created many relaxation centers and practically made it so that working at Google seems like working in a cafe. 

Your organization might not be as big as Google, but you can surely take advantage of public cafes around you. For example, Innovation Cafe was built to help move meetings from the boardrooms to a cafe lounge. Its launch meeting room, design thinking room, and others are specifically designed for workplace professionals and teams. It is the perfect alternative to traditional boardrooms.

3-It helps to Build Rapport with your Clients and Business Partners

Yes. Having meetings with clients and prospective business partners in an informal setting can help seal the deal. Panels over a cup of coffee in a cafe are essentially replacing meetings held in boardrooms. Of course, there'll be no PowerPoint presentations to buttress your points, but a good salesman doesn't need PowerPoint presentations to sell his ideas to his audience. 

When a client can bring his wife with him to have a cup of coffee with you, you can consider the deal almost sealed already. You have to run the numbers with them and make the deliverable value make sense. The Know, Like and Trust Factor have been ticked off the box, so the pendulum is literally swinging in your direction. Yes, that is how powerful a cup of coffee with a client in a public cafe can be. 

There are lots of other reasons why holding business meetings outside of the organisation’s walls is advantageous. I told you we'd be doing the thinking together, so now's your turn. What other advantage do you think that holding casual business meetings outside of the Organisation brings?

Now you know why you should move your business meetings outside the walls of your boardroom and offices. The question is where's best to do it? Well Innovation Cafe is just the place for you. There are so many reasons like I have already enumerated above, but top of the list is that it gives you that atmosphere that stimulates creativity. It's the absolute best place for you and your team.

Check our our options for the Small Meeting Room or Group meeting room