Why Plan Small, Intimate Corporate Meetings?
When you think of corporate meeting planning, large global events, trade shows, and conferences often come to mind. Of course these events are important and have large budgets, and thus need careful planning, but what about small company meetings? Have you considered that they may be just as important, if not more?
You might be asking, when and how are they used? How much budget is needed for a small corporate meeting? Why should you plan and track them with as much rigor as large ones? Small, intimate company meetings can have large benefits.
While large company meetings definitely have their place, if engagement and quick decision making are the goals of a meeting, small meetings are the better option. But what exactly do we mean by “small meeting”? This is an intimate gathering with an average of 7 people, give or take 1 or 2. That’s definitely small! Why this size?
A Gallup poll showed that small businesses (10 people or less) have a higher level of employee engagement than larger businesses. And this research applies to meetings as well. The larger the meeting, the less engaged attendees feel. Studies have shown the maximum number of people that provide a sense of equal engagement in a meeting is 9. Any more than that, and attendees start losing a sense of ownership in the decisions being made.
Large meetings are also quite cumbersome for decision making as a whole. Too many perspectives can lead to a long, drawn out process and delayed decision making. Conversely, meetings with less than 5 people have a tendency to have too few perspectives for good decision making. 5-9 people provide for an engaging, efficient meeting that can promote a business’ welfare effectively no matter the size of the organization.
Planning Small Meetings Is Good for Your Bottom Line
We’ve established that small company meetings are essential for a business of any size. But surely, small meetings don’t affect the meeting budget as much as large meetings do, right? You’ll be surprised to find out on average 50% of corporate meeting spend is on what companies often call “simple meetings”, according to a study done in 2018 by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and Meeting Professionals International (MPI).
All too often, small company meetings are overlooked during annual meeting planning as well as when events are tracked and analyzed. They may seem too simple for any planning or tracking to be necessary, however, taking into account their importance to an organization, the fact that it is not just the principle meeting attendees you need to think about, but their support staff as well, and how much is actually spent on small meetings, there is a need for very intentional decisions such as:
- Who’s invited to attend
- The best venues for the most productive meetings
Attendee feedback and budget tracking are also beneficial for future planning. This sounds a lot like planning for large corporate events.
You would think most small meetings are conducted on the corporate campus, but 57% of “simple meetings” actually take place off campus at hotels or other venues according to the GBTA/MPI study. That means over a quarter of a company’s meeting spend is on off-site meetings that often aren’t well planned or tracked at all! That’s a pretty decent portion of the annual meeting budget to put at risk.
No matter its size, an off-campus corporate meeting means that the venue planning process should come into play. We recommend keeping focused on such things like…
- What are the meeting’s goals?
- What requirements for venue space are available to meet these goals?
- What location and venue will fulfill your requirements?
- What travel is required to get to the venue options?
- What type of packages can be negotiated for venues and travel that meet both meeting and budgetary needs?
Yes, budgetary requirements need to be considered. You can’t plan any meeting properly without a budget. With 50% of the corporate meeting budget spent on small, or “simple”, meetings, and the fact they are so effective at promoting a business’ welfare, planning them with the same rigor as large meetings will only benefit the company’s bottom line.
Plan Your Small Meetings with the Perfect Location, Venue, and Event Budget
Planning numerous small company meetings you may have may be a little overwhelming for corporate meeting planners, but that is where support from Applied Meetings & Hospitality Solutions makes sense. Our experience with the largest of events and the most small and intimate ones will benefit your business and bottom line. We’re familiar with venue types that you may not have even considered for small meetings, such as river cruises or chartered yachts. Additionally, we can help with travel planning too.With our proprietary budgeting and negotiating processes we’ll make sure you not only find venues that meet the requirements for your small, off-campus meetings, but they will also come in at or under budget. All of these services are at no cost to you, so find out how to get started with your next small corporate meeting planning by scheduling a discovery call today.