Hosting team meetings can be a challenge for any organization. But if done correctly, effective meetings can create a safe and productive space for teams to come together and work towards a common goal. This post will share seven practical and surprising strategies for hosting extraordinary, productive meetings. These strategies range from team-building activities and new ways of working to icebreaker questions and project management methods that will take your team meetings from average to exceptional in no time!

Read our article on 5 Ways to Stop Hosting Boring Meetings.

Reimagining the Traditional Meeting Format with Human Center Design

As we strive to make every meeting more meaningful and productive, it's time to take a step back and rethink how we design and deliver them. By adopting a human-centred approach, leaders can revolutionize the traditional meeting structure, creating an environment that leads to higher-quality content and greater efficiency.

At its core, human-centred design means taking a user-first approach to problem-solving. Rather than emphasizing the convenience and efficiency of the leader, it instead focuses on finding solutions that improve the experience and engagement of all meeting participants. This thoughtful approach means examining the goals and expectations of everyone involved and designing the meeting in a way that helps to ensure those goals are achievable.

One of the fundamental elements of human-centred design is ensuring that a meeting focuses on meaningful conversations. That means starting by identifying expected or desired outcomes and then developing an agenda that allows the group to collaborate and share their ideas. By prioritizing interaction and collaboration, leaders can create an environment that encourages constructive dialogue and greater engagement from all participants.

Human-centred design is a way to make conversations more meaningful and can help with problem-solving in unique ways. For example, leaders might do activities like brainstorming, team-building, or debates that make it fun to share ideas. This format makes the atmosphere more dynamic and encourages everyone to think imaginatively. Human-centred design can make meetings better in lots of ways. For example, it can make them more productive, collaborative and fun. Whether a weekly meeting or a kick-off session, this can take the meeting to a new level.

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Keeping Meetings Fun with Happy Teams and Collaborative Mindsets

Finding time for team bonding and morale building can be challenging in the fast-paced world of corporate settings and tight deadlines. But finding ways to have fun and stay creative during meetings can significantly impact a team's productivity, efficiency, and happiness. Keeping meetings fun with happy teams and collaborative mindsets can be the key to helping your team's progress while allowing everyone to have a good time. 

First, it is essential to create a space where team members feel comfortable expressing their ideas and opinions. Allowing everyone a platform to share their thoughts and contribute to collaborative problem-solving can help ensure that everyone's input is heard and valued, sparking creativity and enthusiasm. 

It's also important to encourage team members to unwind and have fun during work. Breaking up long, intense meetings with quick games or activities can reinvigorate the team and provoke creative thought. Steve Jobs once famously said, "Innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we've been thinking about a problem." Experiences like this encourage team members to think in new ways and come up with solutions to problems.

Adding a little bit of fun to your team's meetings may seem like a luxury in a world of tight deadlines and heavy workloads, but it's essential to building a successful team. Keeping meetings fun with happy teams and collaborative mindsets can help build morale, encourage creativity and innovation, and keep everyone energized and motivated to work hard. So, don't be afraid to break out the office ping pong paddles, host team-building activities, or have fun at your next meeting. You'll be amazed at the results.

Creating an Environment of Openness with Icebreaker Questions 

Icebreakers are essential tools to generate an open environment and creative conversation. They can be used in various settings—from virtual meetings to in-person discussions—and may include specific questions to help people start talking. They put everyone on the same level by asking questions anyone can answer. Icebreakers can range from light and fun to more serious topics that delve into people's lives, such as hopes and dreams. Ultimately, the goal is to encourage people to open up and share, creating a comfortable, safe space. Icebreaker questions can also help to break the tension, reduce anxiety, and create a space for meaningful dialogue.

Icebreakers can help people feel more comfortable and ease into a discussion. They can help focus on shared ideas and encourage creativity, too. For example, asking a question like, "How would you solve this problem in a cool way?" can get the group to brainstorm new ideas. Icebreakers can also help a group look at different perspectives on a topic. Everyone can be part of the conversation by creating a safe and open space.

Introducing New Ideas with Team-Building Activities

Team-building activities can be a great way to help employees get to know each other and work together better. These activities can challenge everyone to work together, set goals, and solve problems. They can also help your team learn new skills and discuss current topics. In addition, these activities are fun, bring people closer together, and help everyone develop and grow.

From simple icebreakers to interactive problem-solving games, team-building activities can be tailored to the needs of any organization, encouraging employees to work together to reach solutions. As Dr. Francesca Gino, professor at Harvard Business School and author of Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed, and How We Can Stick to the Plan, puts it, "Team building activities are an effective way for people to come together and build relationships so that it becomes natural for them to collaborate and cooperate on a daily basis."

Not only do team-building activities help to bring employees together, but they can also benefit the organization in the long run. By providing a safe space for employees to engage in problem-solving and remove communication barriers, teams can identify areas of weakness and find innovative ways to improve overall productivity. 

My User Manual 

Rather than just going through the same old activities, My User Manual encourages teams to become more intentional in their work. Each person creates their user manual, which includes communication preferences, likes and dislikes, and more. This manual empowers teams to gain greater insight into the individual members and how they work, leading to better collaboration, communication and problem-solving.

The exercise also provides templates and bonus content to take teams and their leaders to the next level. Rather than traditional team building exercises, My User Manual enables team cohesiveness and trust, helps resolve conflicts, improves productivity, and provides collaboration skills that will benefit any project.

By getting to know each other through My User Manual, teams can build a structure that allows everyone to work together and reach their goals. Not only does this exercise benefit team members, but it can also give organizations a competitive edge in the corporate world. By creating teams that can better work together, organizations can become more efficient and effective, setting them up for success in the long term.

Using Technology to Streamline Meetings

Consider the tools you will use and align how you communicate with your attendees. For example, how will you be sharing outputs from the meeting? Setting clear expectations on what will be shared and how the group can access this information will help to streamline project communication.  These are our favourite free tools:

Free Video Conferencing

Commit to a free video tool and use it consistently for all your meetings. 

Our top pick is Hangouts

Online Whiteboards.

Get hands-on to inspire meaningful collaboration. Use a whiteboard to brainstorm, share ideas and run workshop games.

We like to build our whiteboards in Canva and then present them in Google Jambord

Online Workshops Tools.

Pick one (you hear me, ONE) tool that allows your stakeholders to stay connected and communicate. 

Our top pick is Hangouts

Note-taking Apps.

The main advantage of note-taking applications is that stakeholders can share notes among the group. In addition, these notes can serve as reminders of what was shared and learned during the kick-off.

Our top pick is Google Docs

Online Design Tools.

Make your first impression POP by going the extra mile on your workshop design. You do not need to be a graphic designer to use these tools; they are easy and, best of all, FREE!

Our top pick is Canva

Online Survey Tool

Always follow up and a couple of questions on the kick-off format and your approach.

Our top pick is Typeform

Hosting productive and efficient team meetings is essential to any organization. The strategies outlined in this post, such as team-building activities, Human Center Design methods, project management strategies, and icebreaker questions, can significantly impact the outcome of your team meetings. When implemented, these strategies will ensure you have successful, productive, and creative meetings that lead to beneficial effects for your entire team.