Atmosphere

In the mid 90s New York City's Mayor Giuliani and his police commissioner decided to change their crime fighting strategy. They wanted to see crime decrease, so they implemented one of the most radical plans the city had ever experienced.

They decided to fix the broken windows.

They'd fix the broken windows and address graffiti immediately in an effort to create an atmosphere of cleanliness and order... that would hopefully result in a reduced crime rate.

The motivation?  If it appeared the NYC residents cared enough about their community to repair broken windows and address graffiti - if the atmosphere reflected a caring, concerned community - the criminals may be less inclined to bring crime to the community.

It worked. Crime reduced steadily over the next 10 years in specific New York City neighborhoods where this practice was implemented.

The same principles of atmosphere can be utilized in our everyday lives as well. For many of us, it will apply to our home life, our work setting or the meetings we lead.

Atmosphere can be defined as: surrounding influence. Meaning, our surroundings are going to influence our experience one way or the other, so why don't we take control and make sure our surroundings help move us forward. Create an atmosphere that helps you accomplish your purpose.

Consider what might happen if you simply had music playing when people walked into your meeting. Is it possible the starting tone might be more energetic? Or would people be more apt to initiate conversations if they didn't feel as though they had to break the silence?

What if you turned the lights up? Or dimmed them? Could you light a candle? How about some air freshener? Maybe use a Plug-In? Whatever it is, create the atmosphere you want - intentionally.

If you are expecting participation, try music that will energize and not lull you to sleep. To engage those in your meeting, provide a notepad and a pen to take notes. And to take it over the top, put all the pads and pens on the table the same way at every seat. It communicates an attention to detail. It says this is serious. It creates an attentive atmosphere.

At Elevation Church, there is a reason we open our worship experiences with lively music. And have pleasant scents pumped into our building (true story). And have loud orange paint on our walls. And provide a note card and a pen to everyone who walks into our worship experiences. We want a specific atmosphere that will move people forward.

Be intentional. Be specific. And if it doesn't work (you should expect to miss every once in a while), try something different. Good luck creating your own atmosphere.

• How could you easily and quickly improve your meeting atmosphere today?
• Identify 3 areas in your meetings where you need to adjust the atmosphere for better results and participation (temperature, tone, scent, handouts, color, etc.).
• What are your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to creating atmosphere?