Meetings

Healthy Traveler Report - 4 Tips To Unlock The Power Of Mindful Healthcare Meetings

In the healthcare sector, meetings play a vital role in exchanging ideas, strategies, and knowledge-sharing among healthcare professionals and team members. With ever-increasing expectations from participants, it’s critical for meetings to be customized to meet their specific requirements. In this blog, we’ll talk about how mindfulness can address these needs and share some tips to put control in the hands of meeting planners. Mindfulness is the practice of being completely present and engaged in the moment with an open, positive mindset. Mindfulness can improve a conference participant's experience and information retention by boosting focus and decreasing tension and anxiety, whilst establishing stronger connections with fellow attendees and presenters.

07 Jun 2023 4 min to read

Tip 1 – Design

Meetings should be designed to consider participant impact from busy agendas and the demands on their time, concentration and creativity.

Choose the right dates and duration

Hospital consultants value more highly, joining meetings on days that are sensitive to their clinic schedules and prevent disrupting patient arrangements.

General practitioners often prefer participating in one-day meetings, instead of paying for expensive cover while they may attend meetings over multiple days.

Consider the negative effects a 4 am alarm call will have on the participants' concentration and motivation by 5 pm that day and beyond.

Make sure to clearly explain the goals and benefits of their attendance, emphasizing how the schedule is tailored for them. If they are left to decipher it on their own, they may become disconnected, and this could have a negative impact on the meeting's results if they even agree to participate at all.

Blog images - 4 TIPS TO UNLOCK THE POWER OF MINDFUL HEALTHCARE MEETINGS

Blog images - 4 TIPS TO UNLOCK THE POWER OF MINDFUL HEALTHCARE MEETINGS - TIP1

Tip 2 – Venue

The choice of venue plays a crucial role in setting the tone for the meeting. In addition to considering a peaceful and calming atmosphere, with natural lighting and comfortable seating arrangements, it's important for planners to select a venue that meets the travel needs of attendees, including accessibility by road, rail, and air. This will help ensure that all participants are able to fully focus and engage in the learning experience.

Tip 3 – Catering

Food and drink can have a significant impact on participants' energy levels and ability to focus. A planner can offer healthy, nourishing, and mindful food options that support attendees' well-being and provide them with the sustenance they need to stay alert and engaged throughout the meeting.

Tip 4 - Applying mindful techniques to meetings

Investigator meetings: these multi-country meetings are built around training outcomes – replace didactic presenting with two-way sessions. Involve all participants so that their voices are seen to be heard and increase their motivation.

Advisory boards: avoid a dominating voice that promotes a follow-the-leader culture. Design feedback and moderation which encourages 360 feedback from all those involved.

Medical team training: consider taking some training on demand, or via webinar, to avoid frustrations by packing too much into too little time.

Disease state education: balance the intense agenda of these meetings with thoughtful time. Adapt coffee breaks to allow participants to spend some ‘organized’ quiet time activities rather than fighting at the coffee queue.

Launch meetings: most launch meetings are at large scale so, consider that some participants and cultures may not want to be part of large, impersonal meal functions preferring a tailored approach to their participation.

Patient meetings: increasingly common, meetings which are either the focus of, or supported by patient involvement bring an additional perspective to meeting planning. Being mindful of the specific requirements of patients travelling or, whilst at the meeting, will go a long way to respect their illness and de-stress what may be a complicated activity for them to undertake.

A mindful meeting is an inclusive one

Designed to satisfy the physical and emotional needs of participants, a mindful meeting reflects the best of meeting design taken to the level of the individual. It recognizes the contemporary factors that motivate healthcare professionals and internal team members to participate in meetings, beyond the mere obligation to attend and strives to deliver a lasting and impactful interaction through personalization, participant engagement, performance and outcomes. For more information to incorporate mindful techniques, download the 'Healthy Traveler Report' for more valuable insights.

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