Writer Dominic Ali came up with an unusual way to make office meetings more bearable–one that would make Ellen proud. In the comments of my recent post about meetings, Ali says:
At my previous job, I once took on a temporary acting communications director role. All of a sudden, I had eight people reporting to me. To keep impromptu meetings short, I instituted Dance Meetings. By playing some funk at low levels through my computer speakers, I’d encourage my colleagues to dance. We’d dance for the duration of the song as we discussed their projects, challenges, personal troubles, etc. The benefits were immediately clear.
- Meetings were kept to about 5 minutes, maximum 10 for an extended James Brown tune.
- Self-conscious people were intimidated and didn’t drop in for impromptu meetings as often.
- The dancing immediately put us in a good mood—so much so that even people with major complaints always left my office with a smile.
- My colleagues developed an appreciation for the Meters, Earth, Wind& Fire, and James Brown.
- It was a lovely surreal bonding moment that boosted morale within my team.
Honestly, I couldn’t see this happening at ANY of the offices I’ve ever worked in–and I’d be one of the shy ones who just never showed up–but just the idea of people dancing while updating their supervisor about work projects makes me smile. Cue the overbite!
5 Comments
Elijah van der Giessen
Dominic Ali has, and will always be, my hero.
FrightenedByPenguins
Sounds like a nightmare to me, talk about unapproachable bosses – I think next time I’m approached with a problem at work I’ll just pin down and tickle whoever needs my input until they wet them selves.
I could see this totally destroying the moral of anyone with two left feet (myself included) but I find myself unable to damn it completely due to my love of Earth, Wind, Fire and Theft.
RonaldB
The first that came to mind was the scene from “The Secret of My Success”. where the management team is jogging on top of the building…
kylepott
Can you imagine a bunch of software engineers bouncing around? Talk about awkward. : )
Andy Bird
fortunately in the UK we have a ‘dignity at work’ law to prevent this kind of insanity.