How to love meetings

At Smarty®, our company does two main things to maintain a culture of wizardry, fun, and outwardness. First, we have our staff meetings, and second, we have company spotlights. Both events are in-person, where everyone comes together in school-assembly-style seating. We have a small stage with sound and lighting systems to enhance our gatherings. 

In our staff meetings, we learn about employees, organizational changes, and upcoming events. Our spotlights have become an easy and entertaining way to get to know people from all departments, learn how they contribute to our organization, and learn what makes them unique. 

We learn about employees’ families, hobbies, eccentricities, talents, fears, foes, and so much more. The goal is to see each other as people, find common interests and goals, and have fun. Both meetings are hosted by none other than the great Brady Amundson, and we say “bit” because he’s a certified improv comedian coach, making “meetings that could’ve been an email” a thing of the past. 

Why we do it

A core company belief at Smarty is that there’s a purpose when we meet. A central problem surrounding most meetings is the stuffy, corporate, disciplinarian way that most of the world executes them. In every organizer’s eye, there’s value in getting everyone in one room, but that doesn’t mean the attendees agree. The buy-in from co-workers is so necessary. If it’s not there, the phrase “Well, that could’ve been an email” may be uttered by many mouths. 

Smarty, being the eclectic group of weirdos that we are, wanted to fix that problem, improve communication across departments, allow for changes to be implemented more efficiently, and remove the “dread” factor associated with having a meeting, especially an all-company meeting. Thus, the weekly 15-minute staff meeting and the comedy spotlight were born. 

How we do it

It’s not enough just to have a quirky host (although, thanks, Brady; that definitely helps); the meeting structure should be scattered with relevant visuals and reflect your company’s uniqueness. Maybe add some funny songs to the playlist before the meeting begins to get your people hyped. 

At Smarty, we like to laugh, and we like variety. Some of the most recent ways we infused fun into our staff and spotlight meetings are by showing custom photoshopped images, silly cartoon strips, and employees acting out scenarios. But we don’t stop there. For our spotlights, we make sure our questions reflect our fun-loving nature. We’ve listed some of those here for you to use with your crew:

• Do you have a nickname, and if so, what is it?
• Explain to a 5-year-old what you do at Smarty
• What's your special talent?

(eg. Playing a musical instrument, latex mask creation, magic, etc.)

• If you could do something dangerous just once with no risk, what would you do?  
• Who would you most like to swap places with for a day?  
• If you could snap your fingers and become an expert in something, what would it be?  
• What's one totally irrational fear that you have?
• Do you believe in ghosts? If so, do you have any personal ghost stories?

This is just a small portion of the over 50 questions asked of our employees before their big moment. It’s important to note that as these spotlights have evolved, the employees know they’re meant to be fun and funny, so their answers typically reflect that fun nature with the loving guidance of Brady and the rest of the audience.

Lights, camera, action!

Staff meetings start and end on time (which is also very important to get employee buy-in) and have repeating sections that allow everyone to participate. For example, there’s Food Corner with Dan, accompanied by a 10-second jingle sung by the entire company. Our spotlight meetings are so popular that we record them so employees can watch and rewatch the fun. And yes, they actually do get rewatched. 

This particular meeting has replay power because of how they’re set up and performed. The host and spotlighted are mic’d up, and the slideshow of pictures, questions, and answers is displayed on our jumbo screen so that even the people in the back can still be part of the action.

If you want access to this repository of silliness, you’ll have to apply to become a Smarty Pants. You can do so, here!

Why it matters

At Smarty, we've turned the dreaded "this could have been an email" meeting into a weekly laugh-fest that’s part comedy show, part team bonding, and all-around awesome. We look forward to our staff and spotlight sessions, and we've cracked the code on making meetings for the entire company not just bearable but downright enjoyable.

Full disclosure, we do send an email after staff meeting, but it’s not loaded with new information. Rather, it includes any vital resources employees need in order to take action. 

Thanks to these meetings (can we really even call them that?), we’ve transformed the way we connect with each other. We've uncovered hidden talents, shared ghost stories, and even faced our irrational fears—all in the name of building a more cohesive and fun-loving team.

Want to join the fun and get things done? Apply to become a Smarty pants today and see what all the fuss—and the fun—is about. Because here at Smarty, we believe that the best meetings are the ones you actually look forward to. Annnnd scene!