designACE Blog

Welcome.

Our blog is filled with the latest and greatest from our team. Here you will find updates on our recent projects, behind-the-scenes exclusives on the work we are proud of, and new ideas and perspectives we think there is value in sharing.

Recent Articles

Featured
What Work-from-Home Essentials Should Be on Your Wishlist?

The shift to remote work has redefined how we approach our daily grind—but is your home office truly set up for success? From ergonomic chairs to noise-canceling headphones, this guide covers the must-have essentials that boost comfort, focus, and productivity. Discover practical upgrades that turn your workspace into a haven for peak performance, helping you thrive in 2025 and beyond.

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A Quick Guide to Expanding Your Mindset: Futures, Systems, and Design Thinking

Explore how Futures Thinking, Systems Thinking, and Design Thinking can transform the way you approach challenges. This quick guide provides practical insights into expanding your mindset, anticipating changes, and designing solutions that resonate. Whether you’re a leader, entrepreneur, or curious thinker, learn how to envision the future, understand the bigger picture, and create meaningful change.

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Design Thinking: Innovating with Empathy and Creativity

Design Thinking is not just a buzzword—it's a powerful approach that places empathy and creativity at the forefront of problem-solving. This blog explores how businesses and nonprofits can leverage Design Thinking to create solutions that resonate deeply with their audiences, emphasizing the crucial role of understanding user needs and embracing creative processes to drive impactful change.

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How to Use Downtime for Professional Development During the Holidays

Learn how to use your holiday downtime for professional development with this step-by-step guide. Whether you want to reflect on your achievements, pick up a new skill, or reconnect with your network, these practical tips will help you turn the holiday season into an opportunity for personal and professional growth.

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5 Must-Have Remote Work Tools for Entrepreneurs to Build and Scale Successfully in 2025

Discover the top 5 remote work tools that will boost your productivity in 2025. From project management to time tracking and content creation, these tools can help streamline workflows, improve collaboration, and make remote work more efficient. Explore how we use tools like Asana, Google Meet, Canva, and more at designACE, plus get insights into other resources to elevate your work-from-home setup.

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The 4C’s to Building Genuine Connections on LinkedIn

This blog delves into strategies for building genuine connections on LinkedIn. Rather than focusing on expanding numbers, the emphasis is on fostering meaningful relationships that align with long-term business goals. The blog offers tips on engaging intentionally, targeting potential leads, and maintaining consistent interaction to build trust, credibility, and valuable professional connections.

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How to Build Your LinkedIn Company Page Following: A Fun & Sparkling Guide

This blog offers a step-by-step guide to building a thriving LinkedIn Company Page following. Discover fun and effective strategies to engage your audience, increase visibility, and foster meaningful connections on LinkedIn. Learn how to optimize your page, utilize mentions and hashtags, analyze performance, and post consistently to grow your company’s presence.

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Supercharge Your LinkedIn Presence with These 7 Sparkling Strategies

This blog outlines seven powerful strategies to increase engagement on LinkedIn, focusing on personalizing content, using visuals, engaging with your network, and staying consistent. Whether you're looking to grow your professional network or make a bigger impact with your content, these actionable tips will help you maximize your presence on LinkedIn and foster stronger relationships.

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Cracking the Code: How to Calculate Your LinkedIn Engagement Rate

Understanding your LinkedIn engagement rate is crucial for anyone serious about building a presence on the platform. In this blog, Andrew Edwards, Co-founder of designACE, explains how to calculate and interpret your LinkedIn engagement rate. Learn why this metric is essential for building credibility, fostering relationships, and achieving your business goals.

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Social Media: Does it Really Have to Be This Scary?

This blog dives into the real fears that haunt professionals in managing social media, from keeping up with trends to connecting with the right audience. Through insights gathered at the Toronto Business Summit, designACE uncovers common social media “scaries” and offers a strategic approach to turn these fears into growth opportunities. Discover how consistency, audience targeting, and platform learning don’t have to be nightmares with the right guidance.

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Strategy in Small Business Success: Turning Challenges into Opportunities

This blog explores the crucial role of strategic planning and expert coaching in helping small businesses navigate challenges and achieve sustainable success. By sharing insights and real-world experiences from designACE, it highlights how turning obstacles into opportunities can empower businesses to thrive in today’s competitive market.

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Thinking Beyond the Trends: Establishing Thought Leadership in Your Industry

In "Thinking Beyond the Trends: Establishing Thought Leadership in Your Industry," Christine Reynolds, co-founder of designACE.ca, shares insights on how to rise above mere trend-following to become a true thought leader. Learn how to embrace strategic foresight, invest in continuous learning, create and share original content, build a strong network, stay authentic, and leverage technology to make a lasting impact in your industry.

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Skills Development

blog
Elevating Entrepreneurship: Game-Changing Advice I Learned from 4 successful BIPOC Business Leaders

Uncover the transformative lessons learned from influential female entrepreneurs.

If you are curious to learn what sets successful female run companies and BIPOC entrepreneurs apart, I have a few great tips to share from the recent Standing on Business event hosted by The Why Not Agency, where experienced business leaders shared some of their best advice while discussing the enablers and barriers they each experienced throughout their journey to entrepreneurship.

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Gen Z Unleashed: How the P.O.E.M.S Framework Supercharged My Startup Adventure

Discover how Christine, co-founder of DesignACE, harnessed the power of the P.O.E.M.S Framework to supercharge her startup journey. Explore how insightful user research, catering to diverse generational needs from Baby Boomers to Gen Z, transformed her innovative approach to meetings. Uncover the secrets behind creating user-centric products that truly resonate.

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Spirited Insights: Life Lessons from Working at a Distillery

Spirited Insights: Life Lessons from Working at a Distillery - A tale of self-discovery and career development by Andrew Edwards. Follow his transformative journey, learn the art of craft spirits, and uncover valuable life lessons from the distillery floor.

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Part 4: Transform Your Leadership Style: Level Up with These Essential Skills

Incorporating essential qualities into your professional development can elevate your leadership approach. This blog post delves into four skills that can immediately enhance your leadership style. We include pro tips that work for our leadership skill development.

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My Transformational Journey with the High-Performance Leadership, Teamwork, and Collaboration Certificate from Northwestern

I'm eager to share my personal and professional growth experience after completing the Coursera High-Performance Collaboration: Leadership, Teamwork, and Negotiation certificate (offered by Northwestern University).In this blog post, I review how this certificate helped me learn new skills and greatly impacted my approach to collaborating with people and leading teams.

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How to Unleash Your Creativity with Walking

Walking is not only good for your physical health, but also for your creativity and mental well-being. Learn how walking can boost your creative output by up to 60%, improve your cognitive functions, and reduce your stress levels. Find out how to make walking a part of your daily routine and enjoy the benefits of a healthier and happier mind.

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The Winning Formula: How Purpose, Goals, and Aligning Values Supercharge Teams

Are you ready to unlock the secrets of exceptional teamwork and high performance? Building a high-performing team requires more than assembling a group of people with diverse skills and experiences. While diverse expertise and perspectives are crucial to a successful team, a sense of alignment regarding a common purpose, shared goals, and core values is pertinent to cohesion and performance.

Read More →
How the Google Project Management Professional Certificate Helped Me Start My Own Company

I dreamed of starting my own company. I daydream about running my professional services agency, visualizing my success, and planning my next moves. Then I realized that leaping would be extremely hard without getting organized and developing solid project management skills. The online Google Project Management Professional Certificate program equips you with the necessary skills and tools to manage any project, from initiation to launch.

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5 Benefits of a Bold Vision for Your Organization

A bold vision is essential for any team or business to succeed. It provides a clear direction and focus and allows individuals to make proactive strategic choices confidently.

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Unlock Your Potential: 5 Brilliant Questions to Ask the Boss 

Take the next step and ask your boss the 5 brilliant questions listed. See what insights you can gain and start the journey to unlocking your potential.

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Ambient Focus Music for Busy Professionals

Ambient focus music is essential for busy professionals who need to stay productive at home, in the office, or wherever they call their workplace. Here are our top seven choices for focus music for busy professionals.

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What is the Design Thinking Process? A Leadership Primer on Human-Centered Design Methods

Discover our go-to resource for mastering the art of Design Thinking so you can easily implement effective new ways of working. We provide tools and tips for entrepreneurs, teams, and leaders that will enable them to harness the power of Design Thinking to drive meaningful change.

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5 Ways to Stop Hosting Boring Meetings

Stop hosting boring meetings if you want people to contribute to your initiatives. Forbes estimates that 70% of all meetings are a waste of time. Therefore, we are making it our mission to help revitalize people's days and bring back constructive discussions. #NoMoreBoringMeetings

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23 Happy Habits to Focus on in 2023 | Part 2

We all want to live our best personal and professional life in 2023. So here are our next eight of twenty-three happy habits to focus on in 2023 to help make the year ahead the most successful.

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Unlock your Sales Potential with Empathy, a Human-Centred Approach to Business Development

This article provides six steps to unlock your sales potential with empathy and help you develop a human-centred approach to business development. Empathy is a powerful tool to help you connect with your target audience and build trust. By focusing on your customers' needs and understanding their problems, you have a better chance of developing a solution that appeals to them and drives sales.

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Level Up your Leadership Skills; Transform your Team

This blog briefly covers the common benefits and blindspots of different Leadership styles and gives five simple tips to level up your leadership skills today.

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Improve your creative output, take a walk

I can confidently say with 100% certainty that I have my best ideas when walking. I feel my mind relax, my body energize, and my heart find a healthy rhythm. There were many times over the last couple of years when I was feeling stressed, overworked, and burnt out. I instantly felt better when I took a break, stepped outside, and got my steps in.

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6 Lessons About Public Speaking You Need To Learn To Succeed

Public speaking is one of the most important skills you can develop. These speaking techniques will help you to stand out for the right reasons. Apply them at school, at work, or for a personal event.

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Take 11 Minutes. Start Innovating with Design Thinking

An introduction to the advantages the Design Thinking framework brings to a business, culture, and product. First, learn to harness the Design Thinking process from brainstorming to testing. Then, prepare your approach to empower a team to focus on what’s important at every step of the design journey. Finally, explore methods and workshops to solve real-world problems.

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Workshops & Meetings

blog
Love & Laughter: Romantic Reflection Ritual

Discover a delightful way to deepen your bond with your significant other through the 'Love & Laughter: Romantic Reflection Ritual.' Unveil the week's shared joys, navigate challenges, and relive moments that make your journey together extraordinary. Strengthen your connection with each heartfelt reflection, fostering a love that thrives on laughter and cherishes every moment. Join us in this captivating ritual that transforms reflection into a celebration of your unique love story.

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Building Resilience: The Art of Volunteer Reflection

These reflection questions allow you to gain valuable insights into their volunteer experiences. Learn how people quantify their contributions. Discover how to foster a culture of continuous improvement and appreciation for their dedication.

Let’s explore each question to see how they can foster self-reflection and progress for you and your valued volunteer team.

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Beyond the 9-to-5: Follow us on An Unconventional Work Field Trip with Extreme Post-its

Are you tired of the same old 9-to-5 routine? Do you want to spice up your work life with adventure and creativity? If so, you will love this blog post by designACE, which specializes in creating productive spaces for imagination. They will show you how they used their waterproof Extreme Post-its to run a fun and effective retrospective on a paddleboard in the middle of a lake. You will learn how to break free of the boring office meetings and unleash your inner explorer.

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The Power of Friday Reflection: Unlocking Insights to Anticipate and Learn from Risks

If you want to get better at anticipating challenges or learn how to support your teams through risks better, you need to add these three questions to your team retrospectives and stand-ups. Try these questions today and see how they boost your confidence and solidify your chances of project and team success. 

Read More →
Navigating Success: The Importance of a Go-to-Market Strategic Review Strategy for Your Next Launch

As busy professionals embark on their journey to success, you'll encounter smooth sailing and unexpected bumps. Innovation leaders must recognize the need for continuous improvement and anticipate potential pitfalls.

This blog will explore the significance of incorporating a go-to-market strategic review strategy. Our framework will enable you to steer your projects toward triumph while building a cohesive and resilient team.

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The Power of Friday Reflection: Unlocking the Essential Questions to Launch Your Project with Confidence

Discover the essential reflection questions to kickstart your project with success. Learn how to align your team's vision, mitigate potential risks, and leverage strengths for optimal outcomes. Boost project performance and achieve remarkable results with these key insights.

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Why Niching Down is Essential for Entrepreneurs and How to Do It Right

As an entrepreneur, one of the keys to success is finding your niche—a specific market area where you can offer something unique and valuable to your customers. Doing so allows you to differentiate yourself from competitors, attract loyal customers, and build a sustainable and profitable business. In this blog post, we'll explore why finding your niche is crucial and provide examples of how entrepreneurs have thrived by narrowing their focus.

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My Transformational Journey with the High-Performance Leadership, Teamwork, and Collaboration Certificate from Northwestern

I'm eager to share my personal and professional growth experience after completing the Coursera High-Performance Collaboration: Leadership, Teamwork, and Negotiation certificate (offered by Northwestern University).In this blog post, I review how this certificate helped me learn new skills and greatly impacted my approach to collaborating with people and leading teams.

Read More →
Friday Reflection: Three Questions to HelpYour Team Stay Focused and Aligned

As a leader, you have the power and responsibility to guide your team to achieve goals. How do you ensure your team is focused and aligned on what matters? The answer is simple: ask these three goal-oriented questions every Friday and facilitate a meaningful conversation to help your team reach new heights.

Read More →
The Winning Formula: How Purpose, Goals, and Aligning Values Supercharge Teams

Are you ready to unlock the secrets of exceptional teamwork and high performance? Building a high-performing team requires more than assembling a group of people with diverse skills and experiences. While diverse expertise and perspectives are crucial to a successful team, a sense of alignment regarding a common purpose, shared goals, and core values is pertinent to cohesion and performance.

Read More →
Breaking Down Barriers: How 'My User Manual' Can Strengthen and Align Your Team

In the ever-changing world of project management, effective communication holds the key to success. Exceptional leaders and dynamic project teams have one thing in common: they dedicate time to align their team norms and establish communication standards and expectations. Using a unique activity like “My User Manual,” teams can find the perfect work style.

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Friday Reflection: Three Questions Every Leader Should Ask Themselves

Encouraging a Friday reflection routine can uplift your team's communication, teamwork, and overall progress. Simply initiate open-ended questions that spark creativity and honest conversations. Then, spotlight the week's highs, learn from any lows, and foster collaborative skills.

Read More →
How the Google Project Management Professional Certificate Helped Me Start My Own Company

I dreamed of starting my own company. I daydream about running my professional services agency, visualizing my success, and planning my next moves. Then I realized that leaping would be extremely hard without getting organized and developing solid project management skills. The online Google Project Management Professional Certificate program equips you with the necessary skills and tools to manage any project, from initiation to launch.

Read More →
The Power of Team Alignment Workshops

Are you looking for an effective way to foster collaboration, align goals, and jumpstart problem-solving within your team? If you are looking for new ways of working to foster collaboration, align goals, and jumpstart problem-solving within your team, you may benefit from hosting a Team Alignment Session. In this blog, we'll delve into the exciting world of alignment workshops and discover how they can revolutionize your team's dynamics.

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Power Up Your Team: How to Identify and Utilize Your Team's Superpowers

Harnessing your team's superpowers and celebrating your strengths can increase collaboration, productivity, and success. Identifying each member's strengths can benefit the team and create a positive and inclusive work environment. Look for each other's kryptonite and celebrate your team's victories by blasting your theme song. These steps will power up your unit and soar toward your goals.

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How to Run a High-Performing Retrospective

A retrospective activity involves looking at past successes and failures to learn from them.

Retrospective activities at the end of a sprint or when completing a new project are the optimal time to reflect on the goals and challenges faced and what was done to achieve and mitigate them.

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Brilliant Questions

blog
From Winter Blues to Spring Views: Refresh Your Team Dynamics with April Icebreakers

Revitalize your team dynamics with our spring-themed icebreaker questions infused with April Fools' Day fun! Boost camaraderie, spark engaging conversations, and enhance collaboration with our expertly crafted prompts. Explore now for a refreshing twist on team building.

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LinkedIn Icebreakers: Building Meaningful Connections After Virtual Conferences

Unlock the art of meaningful networking with our guide to effective LinkedIn icebreakers. Discover how to initiate engaging post-conference conversations, and delve into thought-provoking questions that foster genuine connections in the digital realm.

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Constellations & Campfires: Five Icebreakers to Spark Camaraderie on Your Next Camping Adventure

Enhance your camping trips with these engaging icebreakers! Ignite meaningful conversations under the stars, from choosing animal sidekicks to sharing secret trail mix ingredients. Discover how these creative prompts foster connections, making your outdoor adventures even more unforgettable.

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Love & Laughter: Romantic Reflection Ritual

Discover a delightful way to deepen your bond with your significant other through the 'Love & Laughter: Romantic Reflection Ritual.' Unveil the week's shared joys, navigate challenges, and relive moments that make your journey together extraordinary. Strengthen your connection with each heartfelt reflection, fostering a love that thrives on laughter and cherishes every moment. Join us in this captivating ritual that transforms reflection into a celebration of your unique love story.

Read More →
Series 20 - Beam Me Up, Small Talk: Five Cosmic Icebreakers for Alien Encounters

Looking to connect with extraterrestrial beings from distant galaxies? Unleash your inner cosmic conversationalist with our blog post! 'Beam Me Up, Small Talk' presents 10 mind-bending icebreakers that will have you mingling with aliens like a seasoned space traveller. From sharing interstellar knowledge to exploring alien cultures, these cosmic questions are your ticket to forging connections that defy the bounds of space and time. Embark on an intergalactic journey of curiosity and wonder, and get ready to break the ice in a truly out-of-this-world style.

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Building Resilience: The Art of Volunteer Reflection

These reflection questions allow you to gain valuable insights into their volunteer experiences. Learn how people quantify their contributions. Discover how to foster a culture of continuous improvement and appreciation for their dedication.

Let’s explore each question to see how they can foster self-reflection and progress for you and your valued volunteer team.

Read More →
Series 18 - Destination Bonding: 5 Icebreakers for Unforgettable Road Adventures

Embarking on a road trip is a memorable adventure. Spark conversations with 5 icebreaker questions. Share road trip playlists, driving preferences, must-have snacks, dream co-travellers, and reality show ideas. Connect, laugh, and make lasting memories with fellow travellers.

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The Power of Friday Reflection: Unlocking Insights to Anticipate and Learn from Risks

If you want to get better at anticipating challenges or learn how to support your teams through risks better, you need to add these three questions to your team retrospectives and stand-ups. Try these questions today and see how they boost your confidence and solidify your chances of project and team success. 

Read More →
Series 17: How to Break the Ice with Your New Team Members

Hiring new employees is an exciting and important process for any organization. It’s also a crucial opportunity to make a good first impression, establish a rapport and create a positive and welcoming work environment. One of the ways to do that is to use icebreaker questions that can help you get to know the new hires better, understand their strengths and interests, and make them feel comfortable and valued.  Here are five icebreaker questions that are perfect for new hires.

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Series 16: Five Icebreakers for Festivals - How to Meet New People and Have Fun

Festivals are a wonderful way to celebrate life, culture, and art. It's always an experience finding a crowd full of people with the same passion and enthusiasm. Whether it's music, film, comedy, arts and crafts, or any other genre, there's a festival for everyone and everything. Here are five icebreaker questions you can bring to your next festival.

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The Power of Friday Reflection: Unlocking the Essential Questions to Launch Your Project with Confidence

Discover the essential reflection questions to kickstart your project with success. Learn how to align your team's vision, mitigate potential risks, and leverage strengths for optimal outcomes. Boost project performance and achieve remarkable results with these key insights.

Read More →
Series 15: Chill Out and Connect: 5 Icebreaker Activities for Your Next Summer Gathering

Summer is here, and it’s time to enjoy the sunshine, the warm weather and the fun activities with your friends and family. Whether you’re at a work event, hosting a backyard barbecue, a pool party or a picnic in the park, you’ll want some icebreakers ready to get the conversation flowing and break the ice with new or old acquaintances. Here are five icebreaker questions that are perfect for summer parties!

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5 Icebreaker Questions: How to Avoid Awkward Silences and Boring Conversations

5 Icebreaker Questions: How to Avoid Awkward Silences and Boring Conversations Learn how to use icebreaker questions to start engaging and productive conversations with anyone. These 5 questions will help you build rapport, trust, and creativity with your team. Click here to discover them now.

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The Secret to a Successful Product Design Stand-Up: Five Icebreakers to Unite Your Team

Effective stand-ups have invested and engaged team members present who contribute and engage. They often have a fearless leader who thoughtfully plans each stand-up and picks the perfect icebreaker to kick the meeting off and encourage participation. In this article, we’ll show you how to do that and create a strong sense of community and collaboration among your team with five winning icebreaker questions. These questions will encourage communication, bring your team together and get everyone excited about the work you are doing together. So, let’s get started!

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Friday Reflection: Three Questions to HelpYour Team Stay Focused and Aligned

As a leader, you have the power and responsibility to guide your team to achieve goals. How do you ensure your team is focused and aligned on what matters? The answer is simple: ask these three goal-oriented questions every Friday and facilitate a meaningful conversation to help your team reach new heights.

Read More →
Series 11: Five New Icebreaker Questions - to help you align with your team

Team building and collaboration will enhance your meetings and group dynamic. We are happy to offer five excellent icebreaker activities to energize your team and promote teamwork. These questions range from discussing communication preferences to learning styles and will help your team build meaningful connections.

Read More →
Friday Reflection: Three Questions Every Leader Should Ask Themselves

Encouraging a Friday reflection routine can uplift your team's communication, teamwork, and overall progress. Simply initiate open-ended questions that spark creativity and honest conversations. Then, spotlight the week's highs, learn from any lows, and foster collaborative skills.

Read More →
Series 6: Five Springtime Icebreaker Questions - tired of talking about May Showers?

Forget small talk about the weather. Freshen things up instead and get to know your teammates with these five winning icebreaker questions.

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Series 4: Five Unique Icebreakers That Will Help You Connect with Your Team

Connecting with your team can be challenging, especially in a virtual setting. These five unique icebreakers will help you break down barriers, improve communication, and build stronger relationships with your colleagues.

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Series 3: Exciting Meeting Icebreakers for your work week

Skip the awkward small talk and jump into a meaningful conversation with these unique and creative icebreakers. Your colleagues will thank you!

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Five Questions Guaranteed to Make a Lasting Impression on Your CEO

In today's fast-paced business world, understanding your CEO's vision is crucial to your team's success. That's why we've compiled a list of five questions guaranteed to leave a lasting impression on your CEO and help you seek advice for your future.

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Unlock Your Potential: 5 Brilliant Questions to Ask the Boss 

Take the next step and ask your boss the 5 brilliant questions listed. See what insights you can gain and start the journey to unlocking your potential.

Read More →
29 Thoughtful Retrospective Questions

Here are 29 thoughtful retrospective questions to help you consider past successes and failures so you can learn from them. Retrospective activities at the end of a sprint or when completing a new project are the optimal time to reflect on the goals and challenges faced and what was done to achieve and mitigate them.

Read More →
Six thoughtful questions for your next 1-on-1

Ask your team these questions to improve your working relationship and move forward towards common goals.

It is important to note that all managers can apply this structure - it is up to more than one side to organize and shape these periodical meetings.

Read More →

All Blog Articles

What Work-from-Home Essentials Should Be on Your Wishlist?
Productivity Andrew Edwards Productivity Andrew Edwards

What Work-from-Home Essentials Should Be on Your Wishlist?

The shift to remote work has redefined how we approach our daily grind—but is your home office truly set up for success? From ergonomic chairs to noise-canceling headphones, this guide covers the must-have essentials that boost comfort, focus, and productivity. Discover practical upgrades that turn your workspace into a haven for peak performance, helping you thrive in 2025 and beyond.

Read More