Team meetings are important times to build understanding and trust. Here’s how to ensure you aren’t leading a snooze-fest.

Team meetings are important opportunities for everyone on the team to gather and connect. Far too often, however, team meetings can feel like a waste of time for everyone involved, from the manager chairing it to the staff suffering through it. No one wins. People need to be invested in what they are doing during meeting time to be of the most value to the team.

A positive meeting experience strikes a balance between providing updates, leaving room for collaboration, and offering something positively unmissable for participants. Good meetings aren’t all about downloading as much information as possible to team members who may or may not understand how these updates fit with what they are doing on their day-to-day.

With a bit of preparation and some inspiration, meetings can be something the team looks forward to. Here are some tips for turning meetings from snooze-fests into valuable team gatherings where creativity thrives:

1: Give yourself time to prepare

Throwing together a meeting agenda an hour before the meeting, or worse, not having one at all is a sure way to hold a boring meeting. An agenda is a plan for the team’s limited time together. It’s an important guiding document that requires thought and intention to ensure it will do its job. 

2: Start with an icebreaker

Teachers use them. Facilitators swear by them. Icebreakers are tools for more than just warming up a group that doesn’t know each other. For an icebreaker to work with your meeting, find one or create one that connects to some of the juicer agenda topics. The size of your team will influence how much time you spend on this piece, but using an icebreaker to begin a meeting has many benefits, including strengthening communication. 

3: Take a moment to set the focus

Ever sat in a meeting that truly could have been an email? A strong chair will introduce the purpose of why the group or team is meeting. It’s important to be more specific than “update the team.” Define what the updates are and why they are important. By setting clear objectives for the meeting, you are setting your meeting up for success. 

4: Keep the meeting on track

Nothing feels worse than sitting in a meeting where the chair loses track of the agenda. The only thing worse than that is when a meeting runs longer than scheduled because the chair loses track of the agenda. Staff are busy. If it seems like more discussion is needed on a topic, plan a way to follow up and then move on.

5: Encourage active listening and participation

Include ways for participants to be involved more deeply than to passively listen to updates. Open the floor to questions, observations, and feedback. If there are opportunities to visualize your discussions, ask for a volunteer to take on this role.

6: Plan a learning component

Meetings are great opportunities to include a short lesson or discussion on a bigger topic.

If you have a video or article that you’d like to use, send a link with your agenda and a call to action asking the team to review before the meeting. In teaching, this is called the flipped classroom technique because it gives people time to explore a topic individually outside of the meeting time and to come better prepared for a lively discussion. 

Other ideas include inviting a guest speaker to give a presentation on a topic of interest to the group. This guest could be from inside or outside the organization. 

7: Make it fun

No, the chair does not need to be an amateaur comedian to make the meeting fun. There are many ways to set the stage for a friendly and enjoyable environment, such as having a surprise. Coffee or treats are always a hit. Other ways include celebrating team and individual wins. This is an excellent way to provide praise and encourage positive collaboration. 

8: Debrief as a group, asking team members what they’d like to cover in future meetings

How is the time and frequency? What topics would they like to discuss in future team meetings? Would anyone like a chance at chairing? Giving space to new perspectives has the added benefit of keeping the meeting fresh.

Meetings are important tools for high-functioning teams. An intentionally designed meeting can refuel a team and set the groundwork for better creativity and collaboration.