Tired of dull, pointless team meetings? You're not alone! Meetings get a bad rap for wasting time and putting people to sleep. But it doesn't have to be that way. With a little creativity, you can make your team meetings fun, energizing experiences team members look forward to.
Here are 20 engaging activities to incorporate into your sessions to banish boredom and boost participation, collaboration and morale.
1. Icebreaker Questions
Fun icebreaker questions at the start of a meeting help colleagues open up and share more about themselves. Take turns asking things like:
- What's your favorite holiday tradition?
- What hobby would you get into if time and money weren't an issue?
- What app or device can you not live without?
- If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Icebreakers allow team members to relate as real people, not just coworkers. They set a welcoming, lighthearted tone for creative conversations ahead.
2. Two Truths and a Lie
Gather your wildest truths and most believable lies for this classic team bonding game. Each person shares three statements about themselves, two true and one false. The rest of the team votes on which they think is the lie. Reveal your lies at the end! The game helps colleagues get to know interesting facts about each other and spur friendly competition.
3. Objects of Inspiration
Have each attendee bring an object, photo or other small item that inspires them to the meeting. Go around and share what you brought and why it's personally motivating. Objects could represent family, hobbies, values or anything meaningful. This activity provides glimpses into what makes team members tick and the diverse sources of inspiration they draw from.
4. Show and Tell
Remember show and tell from elementary school? Bring it to your work meetings! Encourage team members to proudly share something they've been working on, a new skill they learned or anything cool from their personal lives. Presenters explain details and answer questions from the team. Show and tell taps into natural curiosity and storytelling.
5. Field Trips
Occasionally take your team meeting on the road with fun field trips to inspiring locations. Tour an industry-related facility, check out a new co-working space or explore anyplace that fuels creativity and big ideas. Field trips get people moving together, seeing from new perspectives and sparking fresh thinking through on-site experiences.
6. Blind Drawing Game
This activity builds communication, listening and visualization skills in a super fun way. Split into pairs. One person describes a simple picture while their partner draws it without looking at the original. Then compare the drawings! It's silly and challenging. The game reveals how tone and descriptive details make a big difference in conveying information.
7. Shared Reading
Everyone silently reads a poem or interesting article. Then discuss impressions, favorite lines and how it relates to your work. Shared reading allows teams to enjoy thought-provoking creative works and find inspiration together. It sparks interesting connections.
8. Wellness Challenge
Issue a wellness challenge team members tackle over a period of time before reporting back. Challenges could involve fitness routines, nutrition goals, time management or anything promoting self-care. Wellness challenges encourage healthy habits and show you care about more than just work performance. They build camaraderie through shared growth.
9. Talent Show
Who knew a team talent show could cultivate creativity and presentation skills? Have colleagues showcase their secret talents and fun party tricks in 2-3 minute acts. Perform magic, comedy routines, musical numbers, skits - anything that highlights your gifts and boosts morale.
10. Expert Talks
Tap into in-house expertise by having team members give short TED-style talks on topics they specialize in. The mini-presentations teach colleagues valuable insights, provide helpful professional development and let team members shine by sharing their knowledge.
11. Bring Your Kids to Work
If appropriate, invite coworkers to bring their children to the office for a team meeting with kid-friendly activities. Plan crafts, games and snack time to turn take your child to work day into a special bonding experience. It's a great morale booster and gives busy working parents support. Kids get a glimpse of their parents' work lives too!
12 Brainstorm Competitions
Split into small groups and have each develop as many ideas as possible around a central theme in a set time. See which team can come up with the longest list or most unique solutions. Then have groups share their ideas with the full team. Brainstorm competitions spur fast-paced creative thinking and energy around generating possibilities. They show how collaboration amplifies idea power.
13. Potluck Lunches
Who doesn't love a good potluck lunch? Ask attendees to each bring a favorite dish to share during your meeting. Bond over great food while also getting work done. Just be sure to provide time for eating and socializing to balance the agenda. Potlucks feed teams in more ways than one. Sharing meals together nourishes relationships.
14. Team Trivia
Test your team's knowledge and rally around answers together with fun trivia games covering various topics. Include trivia related to your industry, popular culture, history and the organization for a well-rounded game. Award prizes to winning teams! Trivia sessions spark friendly competition, learning and camaraderie as the team collectively tackles questions.
15. Recharge Breaks
Schedule periodic recharge breaks so your team can rest eyes, stand up, stretch out tight muscles and move around. Lead simple breathing exercises or play energizing music during the breaks. Infuse new energy into lengthy meetings.
16. Role Play
Practice tricky work scenarios through improvised role playing. Develop scripts for situations like client objections and difficult conversations. Role play allows safe rehearsals of interpersonal skills and techniques with supportive peer feedback. It builds confidence and emotional intelligence.
17. Innovation Experiments
Foster creative problem solving by issuing innovation challenges or experiments for teams to tackle using design thinking frameworks. Groups brainstorm, prototype and test solutions to everyday work problems. Then share what they created and learned. Innovation challenges develop critical thinking and push teams to generate unconventional solutions. They show creativity takes practice.
18. Digital Detox
Enforce a temporary digital detox during your meeting. Ask everyone to close laptops, turn off phones and disconnect from technology for deeper focus. Remove screens and distractions to enable more organic conversations, collaboration and concentration on agenda items.
19. Improvisation Games
Borrow lessons from improv comedy to build teamwork and listening skills in a seriously fun way. Play games where participants act out made-up scenarios based on suggestions from the group. Improv emphasizes saying "yes and..." to build on ideas. Improv games teach teams to think on their feet, build on others' input and not shut down new directions. The skills transfer well to workplace collaboration.
20. Field Day
Channel childhood excitement with a team field day featuring relay races, tug of war, sack races and other playful competitions. Get outdoors with games that require strategy, teamwork and FUN. Include a barbecue cookout to nourish bodies along with minds. Field day events create lasting memories ofjoy and camaraderie. They remind teams not to take themselves too seriously and that collaboration takes many forms.
While you don't have to turn every meeting into a circus or carnival, incorporating frequent engaging activities makes them that much more effective and enjoyable for all involved. Keep your team's spirits high and energy flowing by routinely bringing dose of fun and play to your serious work sessions. Stay open to new formats. Maintain an element of surprise and delight.
Your team meetings don't have to put people to sleep. Infuse them with life, humor, variety, and inspiration instead!
Want more hot tips and tricks for increasing your productivity at work by working smarter and not harder? We’ve got you covered. Supernormal is an AI notetaker that takes detailed meeting notes for you including a transcript, summary, and action items, saving you 5-10 minutes every meeting. Notes are shareable and fully customizable. You can learn more at Supernormal.com, and check out other articles about productivity hacks on the Supernormal blog.