)
)
)
You’ve experienced numerous benefits from improving your digital meetings. Meetings are faster, more constructive, and more enjoyable. On top of that, employees have commented that they come away with more information, more energy, and their calendar is more clear for focus work.
So where do you go from here? What should you do if you are looking for some new experiments to try?
New digital meeting options to keep things fresh
Here are a few Level 5 ideas for how to upgrade your digital meetings:
1-2-4-All Meetings
1-2-4-All meetings help generate new ideas and solutions quickly, but in an organized way that ensures everyone takes part no matter how large the group is. Conversations sprout from the imagination of each individual, and those new concepts spread outwards towards the larger group. Implementation isn’t often an issue with 1-2-4-All. New ideas come organically from the group, and a “buy-in” is usually not required.
How to do it:
- Start the meeting with a question or problem. Ask everyone how they would make progress on the issue and what actions they recommend.
- Instruct everyone to start with silent self-reflection on the question for one minute.
- Have everyone split into pairs to share ideas for two minutes.
- Group everyone in teams of four to make comparisons and take notes of any similarities and differences for five minutes. Have everyone conclude by choosing three or four agreed-up ideas.
- Conclude by having the groups present the final ideas or solutions to the rest of the group.
Why they’ll love it:
1-2-4-All engages everyone on the team. By starting small, each person can participate, preventing the same people from speaking every time. As a result, more ideas are generated and consensus is established in an organic way.
Circle Meetings
As the name suggests, circle meetings are conducted in a circle formation when in person, or in alphabetical order by name when online. They are a fast-paced and fun way for everyone to contribute their input.
How to do it:
- Define the purpose of the meeting ahead of time. This could be addressing a challenge, setting a goal(s), or answering a question.
- Have everyone contribute in clockwise order if meeting in person, or alphabetical order if meeting online.
- After each person finishes speaking, instruct them to ask the next person: “What do you think?”
- Give the option to “pause” if they want to gather their thoughts before speaking, or “pass” if they have finished contributing.
- End the meeting when everyone passes, or you run out of time.
Why they’ll love it:
Circle meetings give everyone a chance to participate. They help build consensus while encouraging everyone to be more vocal. You’ll hear from the quieter members of your team who often have great ideas, but are too shy or intimidated to speak up.
Lean Coffee Meetings
Lean Coffee meetings allow everyone to suggest topics and set an agenda by voting. Time limits are set to ensure everything gets discussed and to avoid long, drawn-out conversations.
How to do it:
- Ask everyone to suggest topics or questions.
- Each team member writes each proposed topic or question on a post-it note, keeping the word count to a minimum so they can be easily read.
- Merge duplicate topics and consolidate any similar ideas.
- Place all post-it notes on a wall or table if in person, or on a virtual whiteboard if meeting online.
- Give each person three votes, and have them vote for their choice of topics.
- Order the topics by popularity to create the meeting agenda.
- Set the amount of time to be allocated to each topic.
- Discuss the topics for the allotted time. When the timer ends, have each person vote to extend the discussion with a thumbs up or down. Repeat if necessary.
- Continue until all topics are discussed. If you run out of time, schedule a future meeting for any missed issues or if a longer discussion for any specific topic is required.
Why they’ll love it:
Everyone appreciates Lean Coffee meetings because they set time limits that help prevent discussions from taking up too much time. Problems are resolved rapidly, and progress is made in a short amount of time on a variety of issues.
Holocratic Meetings
Inspired by the concept of Holocracy, Holland-based Viisi runs “holocratic-inspired” meetings to keep the energy level high, avoid distractions, and keep discussions to a minimum.
How to do it:
- Start the meeting with a check-in round where everyone speaks one at a time to share how they are feeling.
- Conduct a checklist review where the facilitator asks everyone for a status update on routine activities. The person responsible for the activity can only reply by saying “check” or “no check”. No discussion is allowed at this step.
- Review team performance by assigning everyone with a metric. Each person highlights the most data concerning their performance and provides a short explanation. Some clarifying questions are allowed, and discussion is avoided.
- Obtain project updates with changes from the previous meeting. Clarifying questions are encouraged, but discussion is not allowed.
- Build a meeting agenda based on operational issues.
- Assign each agenda point a time limit, and go through each topic using the following sub-steps:
- Facilitator asks the agenda item owner what is required.
- Agenda item owner requests any operational needs: an action, information request, opinion, ideas, or advice.
- Agenda item owner shares any information or updates that benefit the team.
- Secretary takes notes of the outcome and any to-do items.
- Facilitator asks agenda item owner if they received the input needed to proceed. If the agenda owner is satisfied, the team moves on to the next item. If not, the sub-steps are started from the beginning.
- Close the meeting with a reflection round where each person can share any insights about the meeting. Discussions are avoided.
Why they’ll love it:
Meetings are fast, to-the-point, and – most obviously – without any unnecessary discussions that waste time. Team members get the input they need in a systematic way, and issues are resolved quickly.
Looking for more ideas? Try using a meeting toolbox.
There are meeting formats for every type of group that can be used for multiple purposes. If you’re looking for new ideas, you can try using one of these meeting toolboxes to select your next format:
- Atlassian Team Playbook – workshop resources that help you start critical conversations and address common challenges
- Random Retrospectives – a generator that provides you with retrospective formats selected by experienced coaches
- HI Toolbox – a selection of methods & tools curated by Hyper Island
Innovate your meetings for better results
Switching up your meeting styles is a great next step after transitioning to a Level 5 digital workplace. Experiment with different options to see what works best and watch your team expand in ways that are just as innovative as the meeting format itself.
Still wondering if you’ve reached Level 5 status? Take this easy 5-minute assessment to find out.
Photo by Smartworks Coworking on Unsplash
You’ve experienced numerous benefits from improving your digital meetings. Meetings are faster, more constructive, and more enjoyable. On top of that, employees have commented that they come away with more information, more energy, and their calendar is more clear for focus work.
So where do you go from here? What should you do if you are looking for some new experiments to try?
New digital meeting options to keep things fresh
Here are a few Level 5 ideas for how to upgrade your digital meetings:
1-2-4-All Meetings
1-2-4-All meetings help generate new ideas and solutions quickly, but in an organized way that ensures everyone takes part no matter how large the group is. Conversations sprout from the imagination of each individual, and those new concepts spread outwards towards the larger group. Implementation isn’t often an issue with 1-2-4-All. New ideas come organically from the group, and a “buy-in” is usually not required.
How to do it:
- Start the meeting with a question or problem. Ask everyone how they would make progress on the issue and what actions they recommend.
- Instruct everyone to start with silent self-reflection on the question for one minute.
- Have everyone split into pairs to share ideas for two minutes.
- Group everyone in teams of four to make comparisons and take notes of any similarities and differences for five minutes. Have everyone conclude by choosing three or four agreed-up ideas.
- Conclude by having the groups present the final ideas or solutions to the rest of the group.
Why they’ll love it:
1-2-4-All engages everyone on the team. By starting small, each person can participate, preventing the same people from speaking every time. As a result, more ideas are generated and consensus is established in an organic way.
Circle Meetings
As the name suggests, circle meetings are conducted in a circle formation when in person, or in alphabetical order by name when online. They are a fast-paced and fun way for everyone to contribute their input.
How to do it:
- Define the purpose of the meeting ahead of time. This could be addressing a challenge, setting a goal(s), or answering a question.
- Have everyone contribute in clockwise order if meeting in person, or alphabetical order if meeting online.
- After each person finishes speaking, instruct them to ask the next person: “What do you think?”
- Give the option to “pause” if they want to gather their thoughts before speaking, or “pass” if they have finished contributing.
- End the meeting when everyone passes, or you run out of time.
Why they’ll love it:
Circle meetings give everyone a chance to participate. They help build consensus while encouraging everyone to be more vocal. You’ll hear from the quieter members of your team who often have great ideas, but are too shy or intimidated to speak up.
Lean Coffee Meetings
Lean Coffee meetings allow everyone to suggest topics and set an agenda by voting. Time limits are set to ensure everything gets discussed and to avoid long, drawn-out conversations.
How to do it:
- Ask everyone to suggest topics or questions.
- Each team member writes each proposed topic or question on a post-it note, keeping the word count to a minimum so they can be easily read.
- Merge duplicate topics and consolidate any similar ideas.
- Place all post-it notes on a wall or table if in person, or on a virtual whiteboard if meeting online.
- Give each person three votes, and have them vote for their choice of topics.
- Order the topics by popularity to create the meeting agenda.
- Set the amount of time to be allocated to each topic.
- Discuss the topics for the allotted time. When the timer ends, have each person vote to extend the discussion with a thumbs up or down. Repeat if necessary.
- Continue until all topics are discussed. If you run out of time, schedule a future meeting for any missed issues or if a longer discussion for any specific topic is required.
Why they’ll love it:
Everyone appreciates Lean Coffee meetings because they set time limits that help prevent discussions from taking up too much time. Problems are resolved rapidly, and progress is made in a short amount of time on a variety of issues.
Holocratic Meetings
Inspired by the concept of Holocracy, Holland-based Viisi runs “holocratic-inspired” meetings to keep the energy level high, avoid distractions, and keep discussions to a minimum.
How to do it:
- Start the meeting with a check-in round where everyone speaks one at a time to share how they are feeling.
- Conduct a checklist review where the facilitator asks everyone for a status update on routine activities. The person responsible for the activity can only reply by saying “check” or “no check”. No discussion is allowed at this step.
- Review team performance by assigning everyone with a metric. Each person highlights the most data concerning their performance and provides a short explanation. Some clarifying questions are allowed, and discussion is avoided.
- Obtain project updates with changes from the previous meeting. Clarifying questions are encouraged, but discussion is not allowed.
- Build a meeting agenda based on operational issues.
- Assign each agenda point a time limit, and go through each topic using the following sub-steps:
- Facilitator asks the agenda item owner what is required.
- Agenda item owner requests any operational needs: an action, information request, opinion, ideas, or advice.
- Agenda item owner shares any information or updates that benefit the team.
- Secretary takes notes of the outcome and any to-do items.
- Facilitator asks agenda item owner if they received the input needed to proceed. If the agenda owner is satisfied, the team moves on to the next item. If not, the sub-steps are started from the beginning.
- Close the meeting with a reflection round where each person can share any insights about the meeting. Discussions are avoided.
Why they’ll love it:
Meetings are fast, to-the-point, and – most obviously – without any unnecessary discussions that waste time. Team members get the input they need in a systematic way, and issues are resolved quickly.
Looking for more ideas? Try using a meeting toolbox.
There are meeting formats for every type of group that can be used for multiple purposes. If you’re looking for new ideas, you can try using one of these meeting toolboxes to select your next format:
- Atlassian Team Playbook – workshop resources that help you start critical conversations and address common challenges
- Random Retrospectives – a generator that provides you with retrospective formats selected by experienced coaches
- HI Toolbox – a selection of methods & tools curated by Hyper Island
Innovate your meetings for better results
Switching up your meeting styles is a great next step after transitioning to a Level 5 digital workplace. Experiment with different options to see what works best and watch your team expand in ways that are just as innovative as the meeting format itself.
Still wondering if you’ve reached Level 5 status? Take this easy 5-minute assessment to find out.
Photo by Smartworks Coworking on Unsplash
