In a now-famous 1943 paper entitled “A Theory of Human Motivation,” psychologist Abraham Maslow identified a psychological hierarchy of needs that remains a popular framework in a wide variety of fields, including management training. A new white paper from FreemanXP, a San Francisco-based brand experience agency, suggests that planners can apply Maslow’s psychological theory to meetings.

The author, FreemanXP’s vice president of strategy and planning, international Niru Desai, believes that attendee engagement can be maximized when meetings are purposely designed to address attendees’ wants and needs. She points out that these needs morph throughout the life of an event. “From proper guidance to different venues and speaker times to making connections and having fun, the needs span a wide universe. By tracking these needs as an event unfolds, we can design unique and engaging experiences to satisfy them—deliberately, on-time, and as they arise,” she writes.

Desai acknowledges that identifying and meeting attendee needs can be challenging, however social media, mobile apps and other digital engagement tools that provide real-time data can allow planners to monitor, adjust and amplify the attendee experience.

Maslow’s Psychology: A Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often expressed in the shape of a pyramid. Basic physiological needs such as food, drink and shelter reside at the base, while self-actualization, the highest of the five levels he identified, is at the top. In between are safety, love and self- esteem.

According to Maslow, basic fundamental needs must be met before humans can progress to higher levels . Similarly, Desai suggests that planners must ensure that the basic needs of their event attendees are met before attempting to engage them with deeper, “self-actualization” experiences.

The base of the meeting pyramid hierarchy of needs would include factual information about the venue, speakers and events that will take place over the course of the conference. Desai recommends providing these basics before attendees arrive, while at the same time ascertaining how attendees would prefer to receive communication throughout the event.

Then, Desai says, offer them the tools that will help them navigate their own preferred experience and rise up the pyramid. The goal is to provide relevant and insightful value that they will share with their networks. This self-actualization meeting experience may come about as a result of the level of access you provide to experts throughout the conference, or the engaging interaction the attendee experiences with others.

“By giving them the opportunity to engage with a community as well as get recognition and respect, their hearts begin to open to deeper experiences,” Desai writes. You want attendees to leave your event with a sense of purpose and achievement, and share what they have experienced with others.

She points out that all event attendees want to grow, evolve and learn. “Their attendance is driven by these wants. For Maslow, this is the meditational stage of self-actualization,” she writes. “What they take away will extend your event long after the lights go out.”

Five Levels to Meeting Self-Actualization

Using Maslow’s pyramid, Desai illuminates the five levels meeting attendees may progress through.

Level One. The base level guides attendees, making them feel more secure about attending the event. Effective tools for guiding employees include a mobile app, live onsite support and the introduction of social media tools related to the event. When attendees feel confident, they will be more open to the possibility of deeper engagement.

Level Two. When attendees feel comfortable about their surroundings, they will advance to the next level, which is value. Offer attendees a valuable experience by providing short, bite-sized presentations, access to experts, lots of visuals and social media platforms that they can engage with.

Level Three. Attendees want to interact, share their experiences with others and become a part of a community. Encourage connection and maximize networking opportunities. These deep emotional connections will make their individual experience stick.

Level Four. At this level, participants will most likely have formed important and lasting impressions about the experience and your brand. They may be open to contributing after the event ends, helping develop the content or experience for future meetings.

Level Five. At this highest level, attendees will incorporate what they gained at your event and share it with others both professionally and personally. Encourage this by providing tools that will enable them to continue sharing the content long after the event, and drive the future long-term success of your business by attracting return attendees, increased sponsorship and press coverage.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of cliched, uninspired activities when planning a team-building event or corporate retreat. Activities such as trust falls have been used so often that they’re no longer very effective, and attendees might actually groan at the mere mention of them. So how do planners keep team-building events fresh, fun and effective? In a blog for Huffington Post, Brian Hughes, CEO and founder of Integrity Marketing & Consulting, shares four simple tips, paraphrased below, that will help planners do just that.

Make sure everyone’s on the same page: If team members are not on the same page, it’s difficult to have productive discussions. To avoid this, start your event with a card-sort exercise. Attendees are given identical stacks of cards with a word or phrase on each card, such as “customer service” or “culture.” They must rank the cards in order of which issues they believe will have the biggest, and most immediate, impact on the company. Clearly defining the company’s strengths and weaknesses will help resolve any perception gaps and make sure everyone understands the goals of the retreat.

Brainstorm about an ‘ideal’ competitor: Rather than asking the age-old question, “How can we make our company better?,” why not try a different approach? Instead, ask your team, “What kind of competitor could put our company out of business?” By imagining your ideal competitor and brainstorming a strategy to defeat it, you’ll be looking at things from a new perspective that could reveal previously unseen vulnerabilities and inspire new tactics for success.

Give out thoughtful, unexpected gifts: Do away with the usual corporate gifts such as T-shirts, bags and other knick-knacks plastered with the company logo. Instead, take some time to think about what gifts and incentives would inspire and motivate your attendees. Cash incentives are one option, but more creative choices can be far more satisfying for recipients. Offering unusual experiences such as luxury getaways or flying lessons can give attendees memories that will last a lifetime.

Find creative ways to build team unity: Obstacle courses and golf outings have been done a million times over. Keep things fresh by considering some out-of-the-box options such as glow-in-the-dark team-building ideas, adventurous outdoor activities such as hiking, and escape rooms and scavenger hunts that will surely boost team bonding and cooperation.

One of the key tasks facing meeting planners is site selection. First, you have to figure out which destination will entice and inspire members of your organization. Then you have to find suitable meeting spaces and lodging. Then it’s F&B, then decorations, then…you know the drill.

Social Tables, a meetings and events company that utilizes software to help planners and suppliers work together online, has released a new report on the site visit process. The new downloadable eBook features best practices, benchmarks and tips to help properties close more deals. It’s based on a survey of 700 respondents in the meetings and events industry who were asked about ways they thought site visits can be improved.

To download the report, click here.

The report, entitled “The Site Visit Revisited,” reveals that there’s a major disconnect between planners and properties, especially with regards to cost as a priority in the venue sourcing process. The report concludes that planners value cost as the second biggest concern after location, while properties believed cost was the last priority for planners.

Reasons planners choose an event space according to the survey are:

1. Location

2. Cost

3. Meeting space

4. Other (includes timing, available dates and contract specifics)

5. Amenities

Reasons properties think planners choose an event space according to the survey are:

1. Location

2. Meeting space

3. Other

4. Amenities

5. Cost

According to the 350 planners surveyed, the group averaged hosting 37 events a year, with 56 percent requiring site visits. That translates to planners organizing 21 events a year that require a site visit.

When asked about the primary purpose for going on a site visit, planners noted their No. 1 objective was to assess aesthetics—the look and feel of an event space. Logistics and trust rounded out the top three priorities.

The report notes that site visits represent a unique opportunity to kick off lasting relationships between planner and properties. Properties need to adapt to the changing complexion of their buyers, site visits are the piece of the event sales puzzle that offers the greatest room for improvement.

Smart Meetings Simplifies Site Selection

Smart Meetings 360, Inc. saves meeting planners time by assisting with the site selection process. Once planners, office managers and administrative assistants begin to narrow down the destination organizations want to stage an event, the Smart Meetings 360, Inc., team of experts will step in to help with determining which site is the ideal fit for an event. Smart Meetings 360, Inc., which has assisted more than 500 clients on event sourcing, works with more than 200,000 domestic and global properties.

Knowledgeable experts are with you every step of the way, including handling the RFP process. For assistance with site selection, email the Smart Meetings 360, Inc. team at [email protected]

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Want to learn more? Make site selection simple with Smart Meetings 360

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March Madness is bringing out the basketball fan in everyone…and providing some inspiration on how to make meetings more efficient. A recent posting on the Harvard Business Review website suggests that the same shot clock used by the NBA and NCAA to quicken the pace of the game could make meetings more efficient.

In the article, Bob Frisch and Cary Greene of Strategic Offsites Group, a Boston-based consultancy, argue that at most meetings, early proposals get debated but those at the bottom of the agenda are often tabled due to lack of time. The shot clock, which was implemented in basketball to discourage teams from passing the ball endlessly without penalty, would be helpful in the workplace because it would guarantee that all agenda topics are addressed, and that time is not wasted going over the same old material.

The Game Plan

Here is how they envision making meetings more efficient. Before the meeting begins, mutually agree upon how much time and discussion should be devoted to each topic on the agenda. Then, set up a “shot clock” (an actual clock or a smartphone notification sound) to buzz loudly when time runs out. People must immediately stop talking when it goes off.

The technique has several appealing features. Impersonal and fair, the device prevents certain individuals from dominating the conversation. It limits the over-analysis of ideas, keeping meetings lively, focused and sharp. It will also make meeting attendees think and speak more succinctly. In the beginning employees may resent being interrupted, however over time they will become skilled at managing the clock and will conclude their remarks before the buzzer sounds.

A Goal of 30-Minute Meetings

In a separate posting on Harvard Business Review, author/consultant Peter Bregman of Bregman Partners discusses the benefits of compressing time. Instead of allocating an hour for a task, he gives it just 30 minutes. He has found that this not only saves him time, but makes him much more efficient.

He applies his concept to everything from talking on the phone to working out at the gym. He has discovered that compressing one-hour meetings down to 30 minutes is a great idea that saves everyone time and money. He notes that it puts everyone into high gear—attendees arrive on time and don’t waste precious seconds chitchatting. People put more thought into what they say, and are better listeners because when conversation moves quickly, they have to be more alert. They are also more likely to come arrive prepared because they must get right down to business.

Bregman has discovered that the self-imposed time constraint enhances focus and makes meetings more powerful. He advises those who want to try 30-minute meetings to begin on time, even if certain individuals have not arrived. Stay on topic and make decisions to generate forward momentum. Save the final five minutes of the meeting to summarize key points and clarify next steps.