Death by Meeting
Who wouldn’t love a weekend away at a beautiful state park in the fall?
A group of employees who would rather enjoy such a trip with their family than with their boss and co-workers.
Destination Meetings
Destination meetings are becoming more popular even for small businesses.
The boss may view such a meeting as a perk, but not all employees agree. One manager in a business with less than 10 employees was required to attend monthly out of town meetings.
It interfered with his family life, and forced him to spend one Sunday a month driving as the meetings always started on Monday.
There was no true reason for having to leave town for a meeting as everyone who attended worked in the same office every day.
Not a Perk?
When the manager confronted his boss, the business owner was surprised that some of his employees viewed the meetings as a burden.
He truly thought the employees looked at the meetings as a fun escape from the daily grind. Once he learned how they really felt, he began holding more traditional meetings in the office and saved the out of town meetings for once a year.
It is important to be considerate of what your employees want in such cases.
Is it Necessary?
Obviously, there are going to be times when travel is necessary. If it is not necessary, however, you should talk to your employees to get a feel about how they view such meetings.
If you don’t, then you risk turning what you thought was a perk into a burden that could cause your employees to harbor resentment against you and the business.
