News | Drum Cafe North America

How to Approach your Next Sales Kick-Off Meeting the DCNA Way Think back to your last “all-hands” meeting or even, last quarter’s sales meeting. Was it impactful? Did it resonate with your attendees? Did you see a boost in morale?

We know and you know that these meetings can always be better. Take a minute to think about what was missing and what could be improved. Maybe it’s keeping better track of time or simply getting better catering. Sure, these things might add some value to the event, but how impactful and long-lasting will those investments be for your attendees and the overall outcomes for your event?

Here at Drum Cafe North America, we think BIG. We bring psychology, music, and science together to build out all of our iconic and invigorating programming. Attendees will soak in all of the messaging to stay well-aligned with company objectives and will come out more engaged, motivated and driven as ever to hit targets and strive for success.

Here are our 4 tips to having a killer Sales Kick-Off meeting!

Keep the agenda focused and timely. Nothing is worse than having an unproductive meeting that starts late and runs over. Stay on track and keep it moving. You only get a few all-hands meetings per year, make sure it’s one to remember by keeping it productive and engaging.
Open and close the event with a BANG! We stand by this. With more and more remote employees and ever growing teams, it’s hard to feel connected, build strong bonds amongst peers, and to keep everyone aligned and engaged. Make it easy for your people at these events- make sure they feel welcomed, acknowledged and pumped going into the event and leaving it. You’ll see the results in their work.
Always have a guest speaker. Guest and keynote speakers are some of the most memorable additions to any event. Take the time to research and invest in someone that will deliver positive and motivational messaging while staying aligned with the overall event theme. Remember, this person is selected to speak to your teams, always keep your people top of mind throughout the booking process.
Remember, this event is for your people. For every part of the agenda, you should be thinking about how it’s relevant to the audience and what takeaways you want the audience to gain from the messaging, activity or speaker. Planning an effective and memorable event takes a lot more than a catering list and a powerpoint.

Keep your employees off their phones and drive results with one of Drum Cafe North America’s fully engaging and highly impactful interactive rhythmic programs. Contact us to explore options that are fully-customizable and the right fit for you.

Our programs leverage the stunning power of rhythm to engage people quickly and emotionally, wherever

INDUSTRY Life Sciences/Healthcare COMPANY Illumina – the global leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and biological function. In essence, Illumina is the standard for genomics companies! Drum Cafe North America client Illumina

THE CHALLENGE Illumina’s global marketing team is a critical component in influencing customers around the world, driving market growth, and transforming the way the world understands and uses genomic information. For its three-day 2019 Global Marketing Meeting, Illumina’s executive team wanted to unite and align their marketing and corporate communications divisions. Total attendance – 400 Illumina employees from multiple divisions around the world. In addition, Illumina wanted to provide training to further the company’s success, celebrate 2019 accomplishments, and drive inspiration for 2020. Illumina needed a powerful kickoff event to readily connect and engage its meeting attendees and set the right tone for the entire conference. OUR PROGRAM & SOLUTION Drum Cafe North America created an uber custom Kinesthetic Keynote; a meaningful, energetic and highly interactive 60-minute drumming program to unite and inspire Illumina’s global marketing team. Throughout the program, Illumina’s marketing vision, corporate messaging, and compelling achievements were woven in to the rhythmic program to enhance the experience, connect global marketing teams, and define meaning and relevance for all attendees. Our rhythmic program electrified and empowered the audience and facilitated Illumina’s global marketing team’s sense of community and alignment of its corporate messaging. Coming together to celebrate their achievements and synchronizing everyone’s energy truly granted the perfect space to celebrate, reflect and recognize each other’s contributions and move forward as ONE community.

“[Drum Cafe North America’s program was] energizing, inspiring and on the mark for our meeting opener for our global event.” -Client Feedback

INDUSTRY

Education

INSTITUTION

ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business’ Success Story Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business offers exceptional undergraduate and graduate programs, develops thousands of problem-solving students each year, and features a world-renowned faculty.

THE CHALLENGE

ASU’s Camp Carey is an essential component of the first-year MBA student orientation program. Second-year MBA students and W.P. Carey faculty and staff alike volunteer their time at the camp to ensure its overall success and help incoming students feel a part of the ASU community.

ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business’ Success Story For its three-day 2019 Camp Carey event, ASU’s MBA faculty team and second-year MBA students volunteered their time to peer-to-peer mentorship and coaching for the first-year MBA students. The purpose of this event was to deepen and build trust amongst the new cohort and their second-year peers. Total participants would include 100 students and faculty from around the world. In addition, the MBA faculty wanted to celebrate the first-year students’ admission into the program (a major accomplishment on its own) and allow the new cohort to step into courage, start building strong networks with other students, and make W.P. Carey their home away from home for the new semester.

The W.P. Carey School of Business required a powerful and engaging kickoff event to readily connect and engage its students and faculty at its Camp Carey orientation and offer the right exercises and training to help new students build a foundation for success in the MBA program.

OUR PROGRAM & SOLUTION

ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business’ Success Story Drum Cafe North America partnered with Blue Fire Leadership to create two separate programs tailored to spark unity and facilitate a sense of community for the entire MBA community. The first program was a fully customized, half-day “INSPIRE” program for the second-year MBA students (class of 2020) who were there to mentor the new cohort (class of 2021). This impactful program truly allowed the second year students to deepen and build trust amongst the new cohort, inspire mutual respect for one another, and offer fresh ways to communicate and collaborate as ONE team.

The second program was a Drum Cafe North America program which combines rhythm and a shift in thinking. This portion of the camp’s agenda was essential to change behaviors that build skills and drive high performance while also creating more effective collaboration and alignment for the new MBA students. Throughout the program, the W.P. Carey School of Business’ vision, mission, and institutional values were woven into the rhythmic program to enhance the experience and define meaning and relevance for all attendees.

The hybrid team-building program inspired and empowered the audience to reach, hold themselves accountable, be vulnerable, and most of all, be themselves as they learned new skills. Creating such a collaborative space in which they could celebrate their achievement and establish a community to help them navigate their first year at Carey allowed the students to celebrate, become prepared, and feel stronger together in their new environment.

TESTIMONIALS

“Natalie Spiro and her team from Drum Cafe North America are more than just another organization that offers team building exercises. They distinguish themselves by utilizing customer input to deliver a unique experience that caters to the specific need and ensures no two programs are alike. For us here at W.P. Carey, Natalie took the time to research our MBA Program, understand our mission and goals, and interview our faculty to illuminate the true goals of exercise. I was astonished with her memory recall and attention to detail the day of the event. She really listened to our needs, and nailed it! If you are looking for something that moves beyond the cookie-cutter solutions out there, and really connects with the goals and objectives of your organization, Drum Cafe North America really delivers!”

-Client Testimonial

“[The] feedback from 1^st years on the drumming session…was by far the students’ favorite session at camp.”

-Client Testimonial

With the holiday season fast approaching, it’s time to start planning your end-of-year company party. Whether you’re hosting this annual celebration at an off-site venue or keeping it onsite, you can ensure a great time had by all with Drum Cafe North America’s 4 Do’s to help you plan an extraordinary holiday party: Drum Cafe North America Crowd Mover Programs

Drum Cafe North America Crowd Mover Programs

Do Pick the Perfect Date – The most important element of a successful holiday party is your ATTENDEES. What’s a party without them? The majority of corporate holiday parties are held within the first two weeks of December, so we suggest booking for late November or early January when everyone is returning to work. Trust us, you will have plenty more venue options and your costs will be lower.
Do Kick Off Your Event with Electricity – We aren’t talking about lighting here. Entertainment should be a top priority to engage your attendees and create energy for the rest of the party. Don’t just think about having a DJ. Everyone does that! Rather, invest in high-quality engaging activities and performers to make this night one to remember. Consider kicking off your event with one of Drum Cafe North America’s Crowd Mover programs. Picture stilt walkers, Brazilian dancers, indoor aerial drummers…and more. Crowd Mover programs are electric!
Do Set Aside Time for Recognition – Spending time publicly appreciating your employees goes a long way and truly adds significant value to your festivities. Choose a few leaders from different divisions to speak on behalf of their department’s achievements and celebrate a productive year. Give a toast and set aside time for key leaders to speak to all of your attendees.
Do Something New – It’s easy to plan a party like last year’s, especially if your event team got great feedback. But it’s equally as important to get creative and bring an element of surprise to your guests. Instead of going traditional with the catering, consider renting a food truck (or 2, or 3). They take the orders and produce the food, and you can celebrate pretty much anywhere! Other creative ideas to boost employee engagement include developing a themed gift exchange, renting a photo booth or Instagram booth, or giving every employee a paid afternoon off! We think the last option is dynamite.

Whichever way you go, we believe you can ignite the holiday spirit with Drum Cafe North America. Contact us to explore options that are highly-customizable and the right fit for you.

Drum-Cafe-North-America-5-Ways-Prevent-Burnout-Workplace.jpg

The Mayo Clinic defines workplace burnout as “a state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about one’s competence and work value.” We’ve all felt pressure on the job to make deadlines, stay extra late to complete a project, or help a colleague in need, and all the while we feel even more tired and somewhat unengaged. Drum Cafe North America 5 Ways to Prevent Burnout in the Workplace

Drum Cafe North America 5 Ways to Prevent Burnout in the Workplace

How do we get past such feelings and get back our momentum? Working in a team is no different, and often the pressure feels more intense because we do not want to let our teammates down. It is not such a stretch to see how such experiences can lead employees down a path toward burnout. Taking the time to reflect and identify the factors that may correlate to workplace burnout in your organization is critical, but we tend to dismiss such activities for fear they take away from performing and accomplishing tasks. In reality, it only takes a few minutes to see if some of the following factors are noticeable and prevalent in your team: prolonged stress, unclear objectives, lack of recognition, lower engagement levels, missing days, etc. Chances are there are already employees on your team and in your workplace who are burned out – so, what action can you take now to help those employees? And, even more important, what can you do to prevent burnout? Drum Cafe North America is here to help, and we are sharing the following 5 ideas to help you SAVE your team from workplace burnout today. #1 Recharge & Add Activities Sometimes hitting the reset button is all you need to keep it moving. Add a fun and interesting activity during work hours to allow your team to socialize and bond. It could be as simple as a weekly event, such as a Walk It Wednesday or Foodfest Friday. Encourage everyone to participate. Taking that walk outside, or finding shared culinary interests through fun events not only gives your team members a real break, but allows them to connect and bond and just smile! We also suggest your corporate leadership facilitates discussions addressing hot topics like stress and fair workloads to remove the stigma surrounding such workplace issues. #2 Promote Balance Plan and encourage active participation in team-building and mindfulness activities to boost engagement, move employees away from their desks, and enhance a sense of community within your workplace. Such activities build trust, respect, and collaboration among your team members and empower them to feel a stronger sense of self and team. #3 Be Proactive With so many internal shifts happening in the workplace, it’s vital to stay ahead of the game. Take a look at your calendar. What targets do you need to hit? Are there any product launches coming up? What may be a challenge for your team or one that requires an extra push? See the challenges before they happen and prepare your team as they work toward success. #4 Instill Psychological Safety Create an environment of trust and sense of togetherness. Being mindful, exuding gratitude, and advocating health and wellness in the workplace will enhance your team’s productivity and efficiency. Feeling safe in the workplace provides your employees a foundation in which they can be empowered and secure in their creativity, knowledge, and performance. #5 Advocate for your Team Sometimes the best thing you can be for your team is its advocate. Take the time to identify your shared challenges and successes. You have the voice to share with other leaders as to what issues are prevalent and what can be done to address and resolve issues such as workplace burnout. Take a stance and advocate for your team members so they feel heard, appreciated, and respected. Recharged, engaged and productive employees provide the best foundation for any company, will shift attitudes, create long-lasting results, and contribute to the growth of your company. Drum Cafe North America and Blue Fire Leadership help guide your way with our highly-customizable solutions. Contact us to explore options that are right for you.

Summer is in full swing, and now is the time, more than ever, to improve productivity in the workplace. So many distractions or “noise” decrease engagement among and productivity in employees. Several of our clients’ pain points are in finding a solution to increase productivity, but there is no one-size-fits-all solution. For the month of July, we’d like to offer Drum Cafe North America’s 3 Strategies to Improve Productivity. Drum Cafe North America 3 Strategies to Improve Productivity

Drum Cafe North America 3 Strategies to Improve Productivity

When team members feel happy, appreciated and valued, managers and leadership teams, see the shift in productivity in performance and work. With the focus on hitting the numbers and ramping up product offerings, managers often lose sight of what’s right in front of them: an essential piece of their company– their employees. There are several initiatives and efforts that can be rolled out at any company, big or small, to improve company culture, foster healthy and positive work relationships, and ultimately, improve productivity. Strategy #1: Pave the Way for Employee Success Onboarding makes or breaks a new hire’s journey and perception of the company. As a member of the leadership team, not investing in the right tools and programs from the onset of a new hire’s career at your company can shift a promising employee, a high-functioning productive team member, to one that may not be so engaged and productive. At Drum Cafe North America we make the onboarding process highly engaging and memorable, making new hires excited about their new team and company. Strategy #2: Internally Promote a Healthy Work-Life Balance It is vital that leadership teams promote a healthy work-life balance from within. Sometimes we get caught up in the day-to-day operations of the business and forget that our employees are PEOPLE, with families, personal obstacles, and other goals outside of their career. We know how much money and effort is put into recruiting top talent. We understand the need to find and hire the best. But what happens when there is employee burnout and they’re not the “best” anymore? Such burnout is real and more relevant than ever. Wellness and engagement programs decrease stress, improve team morale, and increase productivity. You can have 1 engaged and productive team member and 100 disengaged and unproductive employees. Who do you think will make the biggest contribution to your company? If people are stressed, it’s a loss for everyone and a detriment to your company’s growth. The aftereffects surface quickly and heavily, so remember to take the time to address the needs and wellness of your employees. Strategy #3: Invest in Your Employees Many managers have a misconception that improving their employees’ skill sets is too costly and may cause employees to look at outside employment opportunities. But, in reality, when managers choose to improve their employees’ skill levels, they are actually adding value to their company. It should, therefore, be viewed as a smart investment. The more you contribute to and support your employees’ professional development, the more you will retain them. You are strengthening the people you already have, and who wouldn’t want that? Keeping them from growth is what will drive them away, so make sure you are investing in and growing your people! Engaged and productive employees provide the best foundation to any company, will shift attitudes, create long-lasting results, and contribute to the growth of your company. Drum Cafe North America and Blue Fire Leadership can help guide your way with our highly customizable solutions that fit your company. Contact us to explore options.

Because onboarding is so important, Drum Cafe North America and Blue Fire Leadership have created 6 tips to show how you can Onboard the Right Way. Drum Cafe North America Employee onboarding

Drum Cafe North America Employee onboarding

Tip #1: Make it Easy For Your New Hires to Build Connections. When they first walk in the door, new hires feel anxious and lost, because in most cases, they don’t know what they’re walking into or with whom they will work. The onboarding process needs to be as smooth and stress-free as possible, and although you can’t promise a 100% stress-free first few days of employment, you do have the power to control some of it. So, make it easy for them. Pair them up with another new hire and match them with a mentor- someone with solid experience within your company. This will add a layer of comfort that they did not have and will make it that much easier for them to concentrate on the material being presented to them. Tip #2: Make Onboarding Interactive and Engaging. We’ve all been through a boring onboarding process, and let’s face it, none of us retained much at all. You were probably more focused on the clock than on the 3-inch training binder sitting in front of you. The more memorable and enjoyable it is, the more that vital information can be absorbed. Our Team-Can-Jam Cajon program, for instance, is the perfect way to kick-off your onboarding process. It’s all drumming! (With key messaging communicated by our expert facilitators.) All of the new employees (and mentors and others) are in unison from the get-go. This cooperative and collaborative energy flows through the entire program. Tip #3: Don’t Put New Hires in the Spotlight Drum Cafe North America and Blue Fire Leadership practice a form of team building that does not focus on competition – there is no winner or loser as we focus on uniting everyone– together! There are so many barriers today that truly keep us from growing closer together, so we automatically eliminate these barriers through the power of rhythm and unity. Tip #4: Make Onboarding Collaborative. Your new hires won’t always be new. There will come a day where they begin guiding the new hires to the training room. It is vital to show them how dynamic your company is and to show them how other teams support each other. The onboarding process sets the tone for the employee. Collaboration is key, so start by etching it into the program. Tip #5: Analyze Your Company Culture. Poor company culture can have the most significant impact on your employee’s engagement, retention, and performance. If your teams are filled with in-fighting, backstabbing, lack of trust and intense individual competition, your new employees will feel that immediately. As a company, you have to walk the talk. If you want a collaborative environment, then review what is happening on the ground floor. Work to create a positive culture that is welcoming, productive and safe. Tip #6: Start Onboarding When New Hires Walk in the Front Door. At the initial onboarding kickoff, most new hires are zeroed in on the speakers and their new training materials. But, the real onboarding begins when they walk in your front door, and it is there where you can make sure they are greeted and guided in the right direction. These new hires need to feel welcomed and excited to become part of your company – to become a willing and driving force for your company’s success. It sounds simple, but most companies forget how those first step can create a sense of positivity or not. An empowering and engaging onboarding process offers an amazing opportunity for you to truly create the productive, aligned, inspired and collaborative team members you want for your company’s long-term success. Drum Cafe North America and Blue Fire Leadership can help guide your way.

During the month of June, Drum Cafe North America is diving deep into strategies for training and onboarding programs across all verticals. As a team building company that works closely with Blue Fire Leadership for deeper dive Team and Leadership programs, we are often asked to provide kick-off engagements for quarterly meetings, company-wide events, and leadership programs during which we focus on aligning goals at both corporate and individual levels. We approach each client and program with the same verve and gusto; knowing well, we can play an important role in aligning and unifying teams and organizations. Drum Cafe North America - Team-Can-Jam Cajon Program

Drum Cafe North America - Team-Can-Jam Cajon Program

Everything stems from a seed – successes, failures, learning gaps, inconsistency and even a loss of a sense of unity and community. That seed must be nourished so that it takes root and flourishes. In the corporate world, the seed is your company’s onboarding process, and from our years of experience, we know this to be a mission-critical event. For many companies like yours, onboarding is the only time new team members learn about company culture and values, morale, best practices, and expectations so that they can become productive and valuable members of the organization. Onboarding is the time to prepare new hires for what lies ahead. Because onboarding typically happens once, it must be engaging, interactive and memorable. It has a powerful impact on new hires and their first experience and impressions of the organization to which they just committed, so the type of onboarding engagement should be well thought-out and mindful. A successful onboarding program has the ability to inspire not only new hires but current employees and managers as well. It can serve as a reminder of all that is positive within your company, your goals, your culture and your ability to create an environment that is dedicated and committed to developing and rewarding its employees. At Drum Cafe North America, our customized onboarding programs, such as Team-Can-Jam Cajon Program, serve to enhance and communicate your company’s core values, messaging and goals, while creating a solid foundation for the unity, trust, and collaborative work.

Incorporating professional development as part of your company’s plan for employees, managers and executives is critical to your long-term success. It proves that your company is willing to invest in its people, their goals, health and future. It is also a crucial element in attracting and retaining top talent. Drum Cafe North America Professional Development

Drum Cafe North America Professional Development

When an employee feels that the company they work for truly cares about their professional development and future, they, in turn, feel more valued and happier in their employment. But, let’s take it one step further. An increase in job satisfaction leads to an increase in loyalty which leads to a decrease in turnover which leads to an increase in productivity. The positive results of investing in employees far outweigh the costs of development programs, such as continuing education and skills-based training. Your workforce becomes more competent, stays more relevant and helps drive your company forward. Unfortunately, many companies wrongly believe that investing in their employees will drive their workforce away, when the reality of it is that those companies that choose to invest are the companies employees want to stick around with. Here at Drum Cafe North America and Blue Fire Leadership, we work with many of the world’s leading companies to provide effective skill-based training in a unique, hands-on, and energizing way. A key element found in all of our programming, like Team Can Jam Cajon or Transform, is to push employees out of their comfort zones to foster a supportive and collaborative environment. This allows room for growth at all levels of your organization. Offering programs that contribute to your teams’ professional growth and development enables them to feel valued, grow and improve productivity. Invest in them today!

Newer Posts

Older Posts