How do I energise meetings? Have you ever facilitated or participated in a meeting where the energy was low? Maybe you noticed participants struggling to stay awake or heard complaints about endless, unengaging meetings. It’s a common problem that many Scrum Masters, facilitators, and trainers face, especially when sessions feel more like a chore than a valuable experience.
When participants are disengaged, meeting productivity plummets, leaving everyone feeling like the session was a waste of time. As an Agile coach or leader, it’s crucial to design sessions that are not only interactive but also highly engaging, ensuring everyone remains focused and productive. While maintaining high energy can be challenging, several strategies and tools can help you create more dynamic and effective sessions.
The Power of Movement to Energise Meetings
One key principle to consider when planning your sessions is movement. Our bodies are not designed to sit still for long periods; they’re meant to move. Research shows that physical activity increases oxygen flow to the brain, enhancing cognitive function and focus. Even small movements like stretching, yawning, turning, or standing up can boost alertness by delivering more oxygen to the brain. To energise your meetings, incorporate opportunities for participants to move.
Practical Tips for Energising In-Person Meetings
- Encourage standing and stretching: If attendees have been sitting too long, prompt them to stand up and stretch.
- Facilitate small group discussions: This gets people talking and moving around, which helps keep energy levels up.
- Walk around the room while speaking: This helps maintain energy and keeps participants engaged.
- Use visual aids like flipcharts and sticky notes: These tools encourage active participation and keep the session dynamic.
Energising Virtual Meetings: Tips for Remote Engagement
In virtual environments, keeping participants engaged can be trickier, but it’s still possible with the right techniques:
- Use non-digital voting techniques: Ask participants to turn on their cameras and give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down with their hands instead of using digital tools.
- Incorporate short body breaks: Ask participants to take five minutes to go outside, find something interesting, and share what they saw in the chat upon returning.
- Celebrate successes together: Unmute everyone and have them clap to create a sense of shared achievement.
Enhance Your Facilitation Skills with “Training from the BACK of the Room”
These are just a few tips for creating more energised and productive sessions. If you want to explore more strategies, consider attending the “Training from the BACK of the Room” course. This course is packed with tools and practical exercises based on brain science, designed to help you create outstanding, impactful sessions. After attending this course, my mindset and facilitation style were completely transformed—it’s one of the best investments I’ve made in my professional development.
