Meeting trends to make your resolutions succeed

Lists of trends – what’s hot and what’s not - are always a popular item at the start of any new year. We think that a list of meeting trends for 2017 should certainly be among them. So that’s why we’ve identified a number of trends of which we would like to feature two in this blog. Both trends relate to one of the most common New Year’s resolutions - to live healthier and with less stress! Although it’s not always easy to keep to your resolutions, we’re sure that you would like to succeed this year. So why not take full advantage of these meeting trends? 


Meeting trend 1: healthy meetings

After the traditional December blow-out, many Dutch people want only one thing in January – to live healthier. But wouldn’t it be great if doing that was not just restricted to your spare time? Wouldn’t it be better if you could devote attention to it in your working hours too? Because, on average, you really do spend far too much time sitting on your office chair! About nine hours a day in fact! Before you know it, you’re hunched over your computer for hours on end. Now that’s certainly not healthy and can gradually lead to common stress-related complaints such as RSI, back pain and burn-out, or obesity, lethargy and depression. Not even half an hour’s exercise in your spare time is enough to compensate for all that sitting. And as retirement age is being constantly put back, it’s in your interests to stay healthy for as long as you can!


Kick-start your meeting

So there’s a desperate need to leave your office chair more often during working hours. And you can do that by making a few minor adjustments to your habits. One is to use the stairs more often or to take a stroll in your lunch break. But even meetings can be healthier! For example, you could kick-start your meetings with stretching exercises instead of that customary cup of coffee. Now that is a real energizer! If you want to take it a step further, you might consider holding the meeting standing up or walking. Not only is a meeting like that a lot healthier, but standing meetings also tend to be much shorter. The fact is that these meetings are much more dynamic, so there’s no loss of momentum and you can deal with the action points more quickly!


Meeting trend 2: Zen meetings

The average Dutch employee spends 25% of his or her working life in meetings. So it’s hardly surprising if you’re a little less than enthusiastic about attending them. Before you know it, you emerge from them a few hours later totally drained of energy and enthusiasm. To prevent this, more and more companies are starting their meetings with a couple of minutes of meditation or yoga. Because whether the meeting is held sitting or standing, calmness and positive focus will ensure that it’s more effective. If you’re scared that your colleagues will think you are nuts for introducing yoga and Zen meditation to the meeting room, just consider the fact that many Dutch people are going to find these oriental traditions very normal. Nowadays, it’s far from being thought of as weird; it’s even possible to hire in business energizers who are specifically specialized in yoga in the meeting room.

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iBabs is a leader in paperless meetings and enables you to reduce these piles of documents to the thickness of your tablet. Thousands of organizations have been using this system for more than 15 years.

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