Most of camp is meetings, so make them memorable

Nov 7th, 2024

In a second, I am going to give you 4 tips + some bonus ideas to run better camp meetings

Wait, do you even need a meeting?

Do all the prep work

Have a point, and get to oit

Take the lead

Bonus features

But first...

A quick reminder

Every spring and summer, I'm running Leadership Trainings on growing summer camp staff skills, building relationships, managing your friends, and so much more.

When done with this email, just hit reply with "Jack, let's talk Leadership Training."

Now, on with the show...

Who doesn’t love a great meeting? Just a bunch of people sitting around while someone drones on and on on them either in the room or over a Zoom call. I can just feel the energy bubbling up as we speak. It’s palpable.

But while we often associate the dreaded word “meeting” with that aforementioned droning, the reality is there are actually many types of meetings and many are crucial to the lifeblood of any camp or business.

In the camp world, meetings look like:

Big groups of staff

Small groups of staff

Full camp pump-up sessions

One-on-one tougher conversations

Leadership gatherings

At their core, though they might not sound or appear like it, these are all meetings. And, of course, there are a whole lot more. First day of camp, when everyone gathers around so you can explain the main rules of camp? Yup, meeting.

And since now that you can see your life running a camp (or a business) is non-stop meetings, it’s crucial to know how to run good ones. The kind people actually want to show up to. Yes, they exist.

By the end of this, you’ll have a framework for running every meeting, big or small, while also getting more done with groups of people who care about each other.

For this, we’ll focus on the bigger meetings, but the general rules apply to all sizes.

Let’s dive in.

Step 1. Do you even need a meeting?

WAIT, first, if you don’t need to have a meeting, don’t have one. Can you just hand people a quick slip of paper or write an announcement on the board? If so, just do that.

If the whole point of your meeting is just for you to share information in one direction, really consider canceling.

And if you say something like, “Let’s get through this,” then also think about just calling it.

Step 2. Prep Work

The key to a good or great meeting is doing your work ahead of time. A little prep goes a long, long way to making sure the meeting doesn’t go a long, long time.

There are some easy action steps to take when heading in, which will save time and energy. These are the two things we definitely need at camp.

Type up the schedule so you can hand it out.

Or write it on a big piece of paper

Write up a bullet point agenda

And when it comes to the agenda, have a rough, but close, breakdown of how things will pop off.

Schedule Meeting - 30 minutes total Clowning - 5 minutes

Goals and Agenda Explanation - 2 minutes

Quick read of the schedule - 5 minutes

Talk about what this means for you with a partner. Think specifically about what might be hard - 8 minutes

Closing - Say one thing that inspires you about the person to your left and the person to the left. - 5 minutes

End - 0 minutes (duh)

I would explain this agenda as quickly as possible as people arrive.

“We are just clowning for the first 5 minutes. I will let you know when we start.”

Then get rolling.

Step 3. Have a point and make it clear

Every meeting you run this summer should have a clear and disputable purpose.

You need to know exactly why you are bringing people together as well as at least a framework for what they’ll get out of the gathering.

For example, you might say, ““Meet with your counselors to discuss the schedule.” That’s a great start, but only a start. This outlines a purpose for meeting with the counselors, but not the ultimate goal.

You have to know what will be true after the meeting. I start by having 2-5 bullet points written down with a clearly stated goal.

To take the counselor scheduling example one step further, I might write down:

Ensure everyone knows the schedule for the day

Hear feedback on what might be hard about the schedule

Feel more like a team after this meeting

Get sign-ups for the talent show

Now I know my exact goals for the meeting and I can have the cadence to get there. Plus when everyone is on board ahead of time, things stay on track.

Know the point. Keep it specific. And let everyone know.

Step 4. Your meeting, your show

Priya Parker said, “A gathering run on generous authority is run with a strong, confident hand, but is run selflessly, for the sake of others.” Take it from someone who wrote The Art of Gathering. She literally wrote the book on meetings.

Once you have your meeting goal, and you’ve asked people to come, it is your responsibility to run this meeting and not waste their time.

This certainly does not mean you talk over everyone or even do most of the talking, but it does mean you have a plan and keep the meeting on track.

You might kick off with something like this:

“Ok we are starting. The goal of this meeting is to understand the schedule, hear concerns, and feel good about being a team. We are going to look at the schedule, y’all are going to talk about it and share some feedback, then we are going to close with a quick activity. While we are talking please sign up for the talent show. Should take about 30 minutes. Here we go!“

Notice how I am running the meeting. 100% taking charge but also it doesn’t mean the meeting is about me.

Keeping it on track is as easy as these four steps.

Start it -> Make the beginning clear

Say it -> Explain the agenda

Do it -> Carry out the agenda

End it -> And make it clear it’s over.

Bam. Super simple.

Sticking to this four-step flow for any meeting will mean you walk in prepared, everyone knows what’s going on, things stick on schedule, there’s a goal, and it ends. Who doesn’t love that kind of meeting?

Now, the meeting speed round

Lightning round bonus points for doing these things in meetings (which will definitely make them better).

⚡️ Use visuals - Not fancy. Easy diagrams or sketches if they help. The agenda for sure.

⚡️ Play a game or have some activity - If you make people gather, give them something to do that connects them

⚡️ Don’t just lecture - If it’s just you talking, write it down and pass it out instead. Or make it as much of an experience as possible.

⚡️ Ask for feedback - People love sharing what they’re thinking. Give them some space to talk or write it down for you. And say thank you.

⚡️ Give them stuff - Food, notes, a quick thing from arts and crafts. People love getting stuff

⚡️ Find a hook - Tell a funny story, connect something to camp, dive into the mundane “whys” of camp

⚡️ Be yourself

You’ll have meetings all summer. Maybe multiple times a day. Have a plan, set out the goals, make an agenda, keep it fun, and make sure you END IT!

Literally say, “This meeting is over, if you want to talk, I’m sticking around, but the meeting is over.”

Do all this, and they’ll go swimmingly. (Oh, that made me think, maybe have a meeting in the pool!)

You are going to have an amazing summer. Try some different ways to lead meetings to find what feels right to you.

And again, if you want to talk more about how this could look at your camp, just reply, "Jack, let's talk Leadership Training!"

You got this

Jack