I Don’t like Icebreakers and Neither Should You

I don’t like Icebreakers. You know, the “fun” activity at the beginning of a meeting when someone throws me a beach ball and I answer a random question about myself. No thank you. While I appreciate the energy and creativity that often go into these well-intentioned activities, I hope the meeting’s purpose is strong and important enough that spending 30 minutes hearing what animal people think is most like them is not really worth the time. If the meeting’s purpose is not that important, maybe it could have been an email.

However, and this is a big however, I do believe in the importance of a relational opener to a meeting. A relational opener is something to place us in the room, or the zoom, that centers us on our work together….

Meetings, Design, SWIM ContentStacy Van GorpJuly 29, 2021Icebreaker, Effective Meetings, Meeting DesignComment

Take a Break: Tips to Improve your Work-Life Balance

In 2021, my goal is to improve my personal wellness, which begins with prioritizing my work-life balance. Here are four tips I’ve implemented in my workday as I work to achieve my 2021 goal.

SWIM ContentStacy Van GorpMarch 11, 2021Comment

This is Life’s Work

In the past few weeks, all of us at SWIM have been wavering between emotions. Emotions ranging the gamut from fear and sadness to hope and excitement for the future. In this week where we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Inauguration of the 46th president of the United State of America, Joe Biden, hope and excitement are rising to the top. However, there is a lot of work ahead.