Your Complete Guide To Corporate Meditation Workshops
Corporate mindfulness meditation workshops are becoming more and more common. And for good reason.
Despite the final season airing over five years ago, The Office still remains the number one viewed TV show on Netflix. Something about the company’s dysfunction is all too relatable for many viewers.
Luckily, more and more employers are beginning to leave this leadership style to the sitcoms and put a huge amount of resources behind improving their workplace culture.
Enter: Mindfulness & Meditation Workshops
Meditation workshops are exploding in demand from companies across many high-stress industries such as Finance, Legal, Real Estate, Tech & Startups, Government, Coworking Spaces, CPGs and more!
Today, businesses are changing their attitudes to make work life more pleasant and less stressful for their employees.
Studies have shown that a calculated approach to improving office life increases happiness, productivity and loyalty.
One way businesses are trying to improve work life for their employees is by providing mindfulness training meditation workshops.
Employees that engage in meditation during the workday have shown to be less stressed, more productive and even more creative.
The History of Mindfulness Workshops And Training
Over the years, the interest in workplace meditation has grown to skyrocketed.
We may be able to trace this back to Chade Meng-Tan, the 107th employee at Google. In the time Google allotted to Tan to devote to problem solving, he came up with a ‘Search Inside of Yourself’ course which promoted mindfulness and was aimed at developing emotional intelligence.
Tan marketed his course to companies based on the fact that workers with emotional intelligence would be more productive and bring in more revenue. As a result, corporate meditation began to catch on with corporate mindfulness workshops.
Guided meditation apps, meditation-based workouts, retreats and even adult coloring books are other related areas of growth in this space.
Apple, Google and Yahoo are just some big businesses that offer corporate meditation and noting that it works in boosting productivity and increasing the bottom line.
Mediation among top executives and CEOs has also garnered a lot of media attention. This long list of CEO’s that meditate at work continues to grow.
Statistics About Meditation Workshops
Corporate meditation coach Golbie Kamarei took a survey of how her workshops improved the way the businesses she worked with operated.
- 91% of workers reported it positively impacted the culture
- 88% said they would recommend it to a co-worker
- 66% of workers felt less stressed and had improved stress management capabilities
- 63% of workers were better able to manage themselves at work
- 60% of workers felt an increase in focus and improved decision-making skills
- 52% of workers said they could better manage their work relationships
- 46% of workers experienced an increase in innovation and creativity
Of course, these are all improvements that benefit companies with workers that are happier, more productive, require less guidance from their superiors and are more capable of coming up with out the box ideas.
Because meditation has so many benefits, many employers are offering meditation workshops to their employees.
What is a Corporate Meditation Workshop?
These are educational programs that teach employees about the benefits of meditation as well as some of the techniques and ideas that are involved in the process.
Let’s take a look at how meditation workshops have worked to improve day-to-day life in the workplace.
Benefits of Meditation Workshops
Workplaces that host meditation workshops stand to benefit in a variety of ways.
Here are some studies, statistics and testimonials that show how they can work to improve productivity, minimize stress and improve relationships.
- A Detroit study showed that meditation boosted productivity in the workplace by 120%. Absenteeism also dropped by 85% and injuries dropped by 70%.
- A study conducted by Frontiers Media looked at how four companies were affected when mindfulness training was brought into their workplace. Results showed that workers experienced a reduction of stress and a boost in wellbeing and personal performance. It also became easier for them to work with others in an organizational climate.
- The Anxiety, Stress & Coping International Journal published a study that showed that meditation is effective in reducing work-related stress, anxiety and reliance on drugs and alcohol. It is also said to improve sleep patterns and personal performance.
- A 2015 study showed that meditation can improve interoffice relationships by decreasing race and age bias. After experiencing mindfulness training, participants were not as focused on differences between themselves and their peers.
- Meditation can also boost creativity in the workplace. A 2010 study that was published in the Consciousness and Cognition journal showed that workers improved their visuospatial processing, working memory and executive functioning after four sessions of meditation training.
Participants of meditation workshops are also pleased with the results they’ve experienced. One participant explained the benefit of the practice for starting the week off strong, “It really helps me feel focused and centered for the week. I can’t start my weeks without it now!”
An employee at a fast-growing tech startups said, “Kayla visited our office to provide some insight into how to bring more mindfulness into the workplace. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit and recommend it to anyone looking to expand their wellness in the workplace initiatives.”
Popular Meditation Workshop Formats
There are several ways you can bring meditation workshops into your workplace. Here are some we recommend.
Workshops, Seminars and Lunch & Learns:
Many companies already have mornings, afternoons or even entire days devoted to wellness initiatives. These are great times to bring in someone to talk to the staff about a meditation workshop.
Lunchtimes can also be used to provide a quick overview of how a meditation workshop could work in the office. These can be scheduled on short notice and they almost always lead to the company bringing in an instructor on an ongoing basis.
Daily, Weekly or Monthly Guided Meditation Classes:
Meditation will be most effective if it is provided on a regular basis. Employers can choose to bring in an instructor on a daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly basis.
Executive Coaching for Mindful Leaders:
Meditation workshops can also be provided on a one on one basis. This is a great way for workers to get the customized training they need to become more focused and more productive.
Keynote Presentations:
Similar to Lunch & Learns, but usually take place at company meetings, wellness events or conferences. They typically last 30 – 90 minutes and they introduce mindfulness practices and talk about how they can be beneficial to employees. They are a great way to learn how a meditation workshop can improve company relations.
Mindfulness Consulting and Research:
This type of workshop involves leaders sitting down with an instructor to analyze the company’s wellness status and produce a customized program that is best for them.
Top 10 Themes for Meditation Workshops
The meditation workshops you choose for your office can have a variety of themes. Decide what you think your office needs to focus on to determine which will be best for your company.
Here are some of Twello’s most popular workshop themes:
- Maintaining a Work-Life Balance: A healthy work-life balance is important in helping workers become happier, more productive and more loyal. This type of workshop will invite participants to focus on what a work-life balance means to them and provide them with meditation methods that help them transition from work mode to everyday life.
- Fostering Psychological Safety: Psychological safety is the ability to be confident in being yourself without fearing negative feedback or consequences. This workshop explores how you can use mindfulness to increase psychological safety while providing meditation methods to increase trust and encourage communication.
- Creativity: Creativity is so valuable in the workplace. A Mindfulness for Creativity workshop will provide meditation practices that can maximize creative insights.
- High-Growth Teams: Teamwork is a major part of any company’s success. This workshop provides meditation methods aimed at inspiring collaboration, communication and connection to create productive teams that can help businesses grow.
- Women in Leadership: Female run companies will benefit from this type of workshop which helps teams assess their goals and come up with methods to boost confidence and communication.
- Mental Health in the Winter: The dreary winter months are prime time for depression than can kill your motivation and creativity. This workshop will explore how workers are affected by cold weather and provide them with tools that promote positive mental health habits.
- Tech Companies and Startups: Those working at tech companies and launching startups are likely to suffer from burnout. This workshop is focused on promoting resiliency while providing meditative methods to help workers deal with ambiguity.
- Mindfulness 101: In order to be successful in mindful meditation, it is important to understand what being mindful is all about. A mindfulness 101 workshop can be a great way to teach workers an appreciation of what’s around them so that they have the tools they need to boost productivity and reduce stress.
- Mindfulness and the Brain: More than just teaching you a different way of thinking, mindfulness also changes patterns in certain parts of the brain. This is the kind of scientific evidence that can make workers better understand the benefits of mindful meditation and embrace it in their lives.
- Chair-Based Mindful Movement: These chair-based mindful movement practices are great because workers can do them while sitting at their desks. Without much effort, employees can perform simple techniques while taking a break that will help them return to work feeling relaxed and refreshed.
The Difference Between Onsite Workshop and A Virtual Workshop
While corporate workshops are often an onsite experience, technology has made it possible for employees and other team members to mediate through apps, videos, websites and more.
Onsite meditation is great for groups because it can provide a more enjoyable, social atmosphere.
There is also some evidence to suggest that mediating in groups is more impactful. The type of bonding involved can also boost office morale and workplace culture.
Teams can hold coworkers accountable, making it easier for them to commit to the workshops.
Virtual mediation workshops, on the other hand, can be accessed anywhere so you can replay sessions and meditate at your leisure.
It is also recommended for dispersed teams who may be telecommuting or working in different timezones.
Zoom or Zoom Webinars, Google Hangouts and Skype are commonly used platforms for broadcasting a virtual workshop.
5 Tips for a Successful Meditation Workshop
- Identify Your Critical Workplace Stressors: Identifying the top workplace stressors will help you determine the goals of your meditation as well as the type of workshop that is best for you.
- Build a Task Force: Create a small group that represents the diversity of your team and departments to promote and implement the resources for your training program.
- Find a Way to Measure ROI: To measure the success of your program, you will want to create a quantifiable before and after measure. This can consist of stress-specific questionnaire employees can fill out before and after experiencing the program.
- Hire a Skilled Instructor: It is important to find a mindfulness meditation facilitator with experience in a corporate environment. He or she will be more familiar with the stressors employees encounter every day as well as the steps that are necessary for minimizing these stressors. They can also empathize and speak the language of a corporate environment.
- Measure Results and Ask for Feedback: In addition to having employees fill out a stress-specific questionnaire, be sure to ask for their general feedback to report back to management. These positive testimonials can help free up more resources and support for your next meditation workshop!
