Effective townhall planning is essential for organizations seeking to convey information efficiently to a large audience. When done well, they have the potential to accelerate organizational change and transformation. When done poorly, they have the potential to cause resistance, fear, paralysis and intransigence.
The belief is that townhalls increase the rate of adoption of any new program, service, idea, marketing initiative, etc. Unfortunately, this is often not the case.
Challenges in Traditional Townhalls
Without effective townhall planning, you may witness some of the following common challenges I’ve witnessed over the years:
- Communicating decisions the Executive Team has already made after much deliberation, research and discussion. They want a large group of employees to quickly understand, buy in and commit to executive their decision.
- Presenters respond to questions with rolling eyes, a head toss and grunt of disapproval. Oh yes, and a sarcastic response. There are no further questions.
- Peers, friends or supporters of the presenters are the only members of the audience who comment or ask questions.
- A member of the audience grab thes mic and derails the flow and focus of the meeting. They simply forward their own (and generally irrelevant) agenda.
- Audience members are reluctant to express differing opinions or ask challenging/controversial questions.
Common Pitfalls of Townhall Meetings
- Inadequate A/V equipment is one of the common pitfalls that effective townhall planning aims to avoid by ensuring clear sightlines for all audience members.
- “I don’t need a microphone. I have a strong voice and I’m sure everyone will be able to hear me.”
- Inadequate space to accommodate everyone, uncomfortable chairs, etc.–resulting in physical discomfort that can be very distracting.
- Panelists are on their cell phones in front of hundreds of audience members when they aren’t speaking.
- Participants get bored and/or tune out. Their primary objective is to avoid snoring, hitting their head on a desk or sliding out of their chair.
Avoiding Mistakes in Townhall Planning
- The planning has no clear purpose or desired outcomes for the townhall.
- Limited information is provided to employees beyond the time, place and “just show up!”
- Insufficient budget is provided. The focus is on reducing cost at the expense of providing maximum value for the organization and its stakeholders.
- Using interactive technology (either online or in person) without thoroughly testing it. And audience members aren’t able to use it successfully.
- . . . and I could go on!
In the coming blogs, we’ll delve deeper into aspects of effective townhall planning to ensure that organizations achieve the most successful outcomes possible.
NOTE: I will also cover the advantages of engaging an external consultant (totally from my own self-interest)!
