staff meeting participation ideas?

Question

I am a director of a childcare center with 45 staff members. We have staff meetings once a month and always have a lot to discuss. Some staff hardly speak while others seem to dominate the time.They always want to contribute to the discussions and frequently ask for help with problems they have in their classrooms. I want to help all my staff to feel included and to participate in the meetings. Does any one have any ideas of how to encourage everyone to participate.

Answer 1

I assume you have a basic agenda for these meetings. I'd start getting the quiet people to lead some of those topics or maybe report on something relevant to the meeting. The dominant personalities are ALWAYS going to have input so maybe this can be a way to push the low-key folks out of their shells a bit.

Answer 2

Have everyone write something down, and then go one by one to have them speak out loud, this might break the barrior that some of your staff feel. You can also try a team building thing.. You could give them a piece of paper, have them put it on there heads and make a smiley face.. It's hard, but it will get them working togeither... Good luck

Answer 3

You could try a 15 minute ice breaker.
All employees talk about themselves for a minute or two.

Another is each employee tells 1 lie and 2 truths about themselves and then each member (usually done in tables 6-8) guesses what the lie was. At the end each table reports back to the entire group. It's fun and everyone gets involved

Answer 4

Use some team building games. sometimes people feel threatened in group settings and are shy to share their thoughts. Starting the meeting with a team bulding activity will not only help build unity but will also make everyone feel more comfortable.

Answer 5

nope
some people wont speak up.. maybe you can encourage their ideas by secret suggestions. let them put their concerns in writing and place them into a box and read off the concerns and ask for open discussions based on the one read.

Answer 6

set up a suggestion box for people to drop notes in. they may be shy. then at the meeting discuss their suggestion. this may get their hands up and participating.