Make your meetings so extraordinary, your staff will actually look forward to them!

How’s that for a challenge?

At camp, we have the awesome privilege to get to inject every single moment with creativity and find new ways to engage our staff and campers. So why should meetings be any different?

All meetings have a framework to follow to make any meeting successful. The basics are fairly simple, use an agenda, frontload the expectations of the meetings, and make sure it has a clear purpose. Some simple goals to take into consideration are what you can learn, achieve or solve during the meeting.

Staff retaining information is another thing that needs to be considered. Meetings can easily become repetitive and valuable information for staff can become easily forgotten. Engaging staff is a key leadership ability to help your staff retain information. The way you deliver your information has a great impact on what information will be retained.

One of the best ways to kick off camp meetings is to begin with some singing or games. These add positivity to the room and allows your team to get focused in a more positive environment
Use visuals - Staff are more likely to retain pertinent information when charts, wheels, pictures, or other visual tools are used
Don’t use rest hour - Rest hour is a sacred moment for your campers and staff, let them recharge
Get staff members to talk about great moments in camping (GMICs), it will get your staff to reflect
Ask questions - How can I support you? - what campers are you struggling with? - what's the best part of the day? - this will engage your staff and collectively work to resolve challenges.
Get your staff to take notes! - Be obvious for important notes, say things like “Write this down”
Recap your meetings - it gave one more opportunity for the staff to catch something they missed.

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Leadership Training Best Practice

From Beth:

What do I need to remember about my age group?

Before your next group of campers arrive, have your team talk about what they need to remember when it comes to their specific age-group. Have them share their wisdom and remind one another to adjust the way you communicate, interact, and supervise them based on the age of campers. Example: If you have 8 year old campers this week, remember that they need concrete instructions.