There is no event more fertile with great ideas to move a country’s policies and the company’s business forward than the good ole town hall meeting. After all everyone loves an open forum where they can come to preen, clear their throats, stand tall, talk their talk and be recognized by their peers for their grandiose views and ideas. As a communication vehicle designed to deliver messages and solicit feedback it is supposed to be an ideal avenue. But what happens when it does not work as it should?

Town hall meetings, were originally forums where citizens gathered to meet, problem-solve and vote on issues pertaining to their town or village. These gatherings have a long tradition reaching back hundreds of years in civilized societies. They are meant to involve everyone in the township, to participate in a decision, say for example, if a new well was to be dug or a communal building was to be erected. I, myself, love a good town hall meeting, especially in the rural parts of Jamaica, where the finest lyricists come out to dazzle an unsuspecting audience with their raw verbal talent. Some of the participants who take the microphone to offer their opinions are usually very expansive in their speech and severely constricted by their knowledge about the matter under discussion. You will also find that these meetings are frequently hijacked by one of two very cunning salesmen trolling for an audience just to make a sales-pitch. It does not seem to matter much to them whether the residents attending the meetings, whether in Blackness, Trelawny or Save Rent in Westmoreland, will ever have use for their goods or services.

One very important lesson I have learnt from my encounters at these sessions, is not to leave home without my trusty Thesaurus or Oxford dictionary (the unabridged version). I usually return home with a collection of newly discovered words some of which were freshly created, on the spot, by the speaker.

These days everyone, including the corporate world has appropriated the term ‘town-hall’ meeting to include public meetings generally. It is the forum, that involves all members of staff and is used to cascade information throughout the company. The now popular company town hall meeting, addressed by the ‘big-wigs’ from the local board of directors or overseas executives can be a treasure-trove of feedback and direction for companies seeking employee engagement, if handled correctly. I have seen a few of these meetings lose direction or flop with the resounding thud of ‘an iron-ballon deejay’ because they are not properly planned for flawless execution.

The town-hall meetings can be a powerful face-to-face encounter that can effectively deliver the company’s messages and elicit direct feedback. If this all-employee meeting is to be effective executives should never ever turn up at with just a prepared script, a closed-mind and wearing their jacket and tie. Failure looms here. Management should come to the meeting prepared, anticipating likely questions from the floor and it helps also in these times if the speaker leaves his or her pomposity at the door, along with their jacket and tie. Speaking from a point within the audience, rather than from a podium sends a positive signal. Town hall meetings are meant to somehow level the playing field between ‘us and them’ and open the channels for greater understanding of our mutual financial and other goals. The less physical and other barriers that appear to exist, the better the outcome is likely to be for the meeting.

Forget the Powepoint slides. The idea behind these meetings is establish a direct connection with your audience. Talk to them. Feel them out and throw out specific questions to your audience to stimulate discussions. The Powerpoint presentation at this venue might not be the best fit and can be a real show-stopper. It might be another barrier between you and your audience. Plus, those of us who would have just had our lunch break will hit the snooze-button if management cranks up the projector to terrorize us with these slides.

It helps if you encourage your employees to submit questions ahead of time. This is because in as much as there are those of us who love to palaver and use the town hall meeting as our own private floor show, there are some who have meaningful things to say but do not like to come up front, either because of shyness or for fear of repercussions if we are too critical of management. For those of us who plan these meetings for our executives, we know you are being proactive and smart, but stop planting questions within the audience. Employees can sniff out a phoney question, a mile-and-a-half away.

If you really want your town hall meeting to ‘sell-off’ make sure that you have on board a great moderator. With this person leading the meeting the executive is free to truly make a solid link with the employees. So, please don’t get the joker whose off-colour humour would make the Comedy Central’s x-rated performer blush. Don’t get the sour-puss who no one but you, likes to moderate. Make you town hall have real meaning for your employees.

Yvonne Grinam-Nicholson, (MBA, ABC) is a Business Communications Consultant with ROCommunications Jamaica, specializing in business communications and financial publications. She can be contacted at: yvonne@rocommunications.com. Visit her website at www.rocommunications.com and post your comments.