Starting Strong: 5 Tips for Better Meetings
It can be a challenge to run an engaging meeting when many feel they are unproductive and taking time from real work. These simple tips can help start your meetings off on the right foot.
So your team needs to solve a problem, and you’re planning a structured meeting (or workshop) to collaborate and solve that challenge. Here are 5 ways to start on a positive note, giving your meeting the best chance of success.
Purpose: What's the point of this meeting, anyway? Clearly define the goal of the meeting and communicate it to the participants. This ensures everyone is aligned and can contribute effectively.
Participants: Determine who is essential to the meeting and who is nice to have. Inviting too many people can waste time and money. A one-hour meeting with eight participants costs eight hours of productivity and money. It is equally important to make sure a person with the authority to make decisions is present.
Agenda: Send out the agenda at least 24 hours in advance. This allows participants to come prepared with any questions or information they may need.
At the beginning of the meeting, review the agenda and purpose. Highlight when breaks will occur. This prevents people from stepping out mid-meeting to make a call or for a bathroom break or just wondering when they’ll have lunch.
Begin with a short warm-up or ice-breaker: These don’t need to be cringy! Icebreakers can be an excellent way to engage all participants from the start, so they feel more comfortable participating in the meeting. If the team members don't know each other well, a warm-up can be used for introductions. For remote teams, ask people to write their answers to a question in the chat while waiting for everyone to join.
Set expectations: If this structured process is new for your team, set ground rules for the discussion, and ask permission in advance to intervene if the discussion goes off-topic or over time. You can also ask for their expectations to make sure you are aligned from the start.
Bonus: Things like a nicely organized room, a welcome message on the whiteboard or screen, energizing opening music, or fresh coffee set a positive tone. Small gestures like this can make a big difference in how engaged and energized participants feel throughout the meeting.
What are your favourite tips to help your meetings start strong?
Icebreaker ideas
Draw your neighbour in 45 seconds.
What was your first job and what did you learn from it?
This site The Stoke Deck generates random icebreakers.
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Nice article and love the visuals!