Starter Meeting Tools and Techniques

Just one idea can make a difference. Click on any of the meeting toolkit panels below that catch your interest. Simply follow your nose – the colour coding relates to the model of effectivemeetings.
Or try out the instant participation tools here.

Basic meeting tools and techniques for better Assembly

Image of person doing stretching exercise in glass orb

WFH Exercises

Simply click the wheel, then click on the exercise identified, and ...
Virtual Flipchart being displayed

Virtual Flip Charts

Virtual Flip Charts are a free, simple and easy way of ...
Painted face - metaphor for making meetings more memorable and engaging diversity

Improving virtual meeting memory – 15 things that can improve our recall

The increase in virtual meetings, and the similarity of our surroundings ...
Image of meeting timer or presentation timer

Virtual Meeting Timers

Probably the most useful tools to help people keep their meetings ...
Meeting attendance - orb showing people sat around a table representing arriving at your online meeting

‘Arriving’ at your Online Meeting

Bringing the best version of yourself to the party – – ...
Make the room your own - confidence - picture of flip chart in a glass orb

Making the room your own – confidence

Simple things like repositioning the flipchart can do a lot to ...
The empowerment process v2 - orb showing hands with an orb reflecting the sky and represents the establishing a meeting culture of effectiveness

Establishing a meeting culture for effectiveness

Do we tolerate poor meeting behaviour because it is so prevalent ...
Invite - orb showing people standing individually whilst giving their attention

Who should I invite?

Deciding who needs to be involved in change – – – ...
Virtual meeting rooms 300 - orb of four images of indiviuals and a group taken from a web cam

Online Meeting Rooms

Setting up online meeting rooms for better participation – – – ...
Ambience 300 - orb illustrating the meeting environment and ambience

Environment and Ambience

Using visuals and audio to influence attitudes – – – – ...
Assembly questions - Orb showing people with a screen and a question mark

Opening Questions

Using questions to engage early participation from people. – – – ...
Readiness 300 - orb showing someone about to sprint which represents readiness check-in

Readiness Check-in

Building responsibility for bringing our best to meetings. – – – ...
Simple participation 300 - orb showing yes and no circles with arrows and names and representing early and simple participation

Early Participation

Quick and simple techniques for remote participation – – – – ...
Tools for online collaboration icon - orb showing a person sat at a computer and representing alternatives to meeting

Alternatives to ‘meeting’

Virtual tools to do some, or all, of your meeting offline ...
Meeting review - orb showing two armed weighing scales

Growing people by meetings

Meetings are a huge opportunity to develop people – – – ...
Principles of multi-channel meetings - orb with circling brightly coloured hands representing contracting principles

Contracting participation

Get the people you want by preparing them beforehand – – ...

Basic meeting tools and techniques for better Alignment

Picture of a man looking in a mirror - reflecting a threshold of pride

Threshold of Pride

Setting practical worthwhile goals by accessing our feelings about them – ...
Left-right brain - orb showing a diagram of a brain with the left and right sides. The left side in black and white and the right side coloured - logo for pictorial visioning

Pictorial Visioning

Using visual images to work with our hopes for the future ...
Objectives icon - orb showing compass pointing north representing objectives and agenda

Objectives and Agenda

Steps to defining a powerful purpose and process – – – ...
Parking lot principles - orb with two lorries passing each other

Using a ‘Parking Lot’

Keeping on track by effectively managing distractions – – – – ...
Alignment of Questions - Orb showing question mark to build alignment

Questions to build Alignment

Using questions to build agreement to a shared purpose – – ...
Hopes concerns icon - orb with a diagram showing post-it notes for hopes and concerns

Hopes and Concerns

A simple way to draw out and manage hidden agendas – ...
QFD for meetings - orb showing people standing on circles with linking lines representing planning matrix and QFD for meetings

Planning matrix for meetings

Maximise your meeting efficiency with this design tool – – – ...
Session plans - orb showing spiral of the numbers 1 to 12

Session Plans

Building clarity over your intent, methods and timings – – – ...
Concept board - orb showing diagram of collaboration

Laying out your process

Making the journey and progress of the meeting visible – – ...
Meeting review - orb showing two armed weighing scales

Checking back on the objectives

Learning from how well the objectives have been met – – ...

Basic meeting tools and techniques for better Activity

Facilitator Cards Orb Icon

Brainwriting: A Structured Approach to Inclusive Ideation

Discover how brainwriting fosters inclusive ideation by letting every participant share ...
Workshop & Meeting Design AI Configurator

Workshop & Meeting Design AI Configurator

AI Configurator for designing meetings and workshops and preparing all the ...
Cultural issues in meeting preparation

Cultural issues in meeting preparation

Meeting inefficiency, particularly around lack of preparation, often stems from inadvertently ...
Facilitator Cards Orb Icon

Facilitator Cards – an easy way to start facilitation

Facilitation cards are simple, fun way to step into facilitation and ...
Sticky Note Dialogue courtesy rawpixel

Meeting tools and sticky notes are not an alternative to dialogue

Contrary to what some may believe, meeting tools and sticky notes ...
Google Jamboard in glass sphere

Google Jamboard

Getting started on Virtual Whiteboards Google Jamboard is probably the simplest ...
Glass orb illustrating two PowerPoint windows

Working in Two PowerPoint Windows

Guidance on using two PowerPoint Windows to enable facilitation by using ...
Participative Problem Solving

Participative Problem Solving

How do you get a group of people to list and ...
Icon of Why-How Chart

Why-How Charting

Why-How charting is a means of thoroughly exploring the logic of ...
Instant Participation Templates selector in glass orb

Instant Participation Templates

Select a tool (for help, click here), Click to open, share ...
Walk round process - orb with images of people round the world

Walk Round Process – Breakout Feedback

An alternative to breakout feedback that is quicker, more engaging, and ...
Affinity diagram - Orb showing affinity diagram and post-it notes

Affinity – The most useful tool of all

Affinity: the simplest & most powerful means of participation – – ...
The concept of multi channel icon - orb showing small groups of people in discussion with post it notes on charts on the wall and representing the power of the post-it note and multi-channel discussions

The power of the post-it

Use sticky notes to aid participation, fairness & ownership – – ...
Kolbs learning cycle icon - orb showing plan, act, reflect and theorise representing the importance of variety

The importance of variety

Catering for difference and diversity in people and styles – – ...
Activity questions - orb showing question mark to engage activity

Questions to engage Activity

Using questions to drive exploration, dialogue and insight – – – ...
Creativity tools - orb showing a lit lightbulb representing tools to support creativity

Tools to support creativity

Tools which help the mind to adopt new perspectives – – ...
Brainstorm blog icon - orb showing a lit lightbulb

Better brainstorming | Template

Brainstorming works better if the rules are followed – – – ...
SWOT icon - orb showing the words for SWOT and representing SWOT analysis

Using SWOT Analysis

Using SWOT as a simple means to shared understanding – – ...
Plan - orb with people looking at a planning chart

Driving activity between meetings

Using ‘always-on’ whiteboards to keep the thinking active – – – ...

Basic meeting tools and techniques for better Attention

Camp fire - metaphor for team and meeting ground rules

Rules for Effective Teamwork

Work with your team to develop the basis for more effective ...
countdown meeting timer to energise efficient creative meetings

Using Meeting Timers for Efficient, High Energy and Creative Meetings

We spend  more of our working time in meetings than virtually ...
Glass orb with facilitation supercards

Facilitation Supercards

Facilitation Supercards are the brainchild of Lisette Sutherland who curates the ...
Example use of a physical flipchart

Effective Flipcharting

10 tips for using flipcharts facilitatively There is a lot of ...
Simple participation 300 - orb showing yes and no circles with arrows and names and representing early and simple participation

Micro-Polling

Six quick and simple tools to maintain engagement – – – ...
Solution effect diagram - orb showing a blank solution and fishbone diagram

How do I facilitate the template?

Before you start reading this, please know that there is a ...
Discussion groups - orb showing people sat in groups representing grouping options within meeting sessions

Breakout Groups within meeting sessions

How to use breakouts to increase participation and ownership – – ...
PMI - orb split into three parts with a +, - and ? symbols

PMI

PMI stands for Plus Minus and Interesting. It is a simple ...
Task and maintenance skills - orb showing road warning signs and representing task and maintenance skills

Task Skills and Maintenance Skills

Kurt Lewins’ model provides a really helpful insight into keeping your ...
Perils of shortcuts in fuzzy language icon - orb with mostly harmless written across it

The peril of shortcuts in fuzzy language

Certain words and turns of phrase are deceptively ambiguous. We think ...
Facilitation introduction - orb showing a person in front of a board

Facilitation Tools and Techniques

Facilitation tools, resources and guidance to enable working environments where people ...
MBTI icon - orb showing Myers Briggs psychometric diagram

Understand differences

Using psychometrics to build shared appreciation of others – – – ...
Watching out for alienating language - orb with white people except for one that is colourful and represents diversity and alienating language

Diversity and non-inclusive language

Ways to encourage people to bring their whole selves – – ...
Example groundrules - orb showing the route of a road which represents meeting groundrules

Contracting meeting behaviour

Using shared development of ground rules to build teamwork – – ...
Attention questions - orb showing headphones, a flag and a question mark to shift attention

Questions to shift Attention

Maintaining mindfulness over how we are being inclusive – – – ...
Questions to influence the flow - people sat around a table representing questions to influence the flow

Questions to influence the flow

Clever use of questions to guide flow and direction – – ...
Koosh ball 300 - orb containing a bright Koosh ball

Have I heard you correctly?

Techniques to advance listening and shared understanding – – – – ...
Consensus reaching - orb showing a tower of hands representing building consensus remotely

Building consensus remotely

How to gain ownership and agreement out of conflict – – ...
Presentation timers 300 - orb showing a dial of 5 coloured sections - half way, 10, 5, 2 and 1 minute - and with a red stop in the middle

Presentation Timers

Simple tools to help keep your meeting to time – – ...
Meeting review - orb showing two armed weighing scales

Growing people by meetings

Meetings are a huge opportunity to develop people – – – ...

Basic meeting tools and techniques for better Action

Orb Icon representing image of partial simple Kanbab board

Simple Kanban

At its core, Kanban is a visual management method that aims ...
Action Planning Sheet

Action Planning Sheet

Building clarity over what needs to happen to progress – – ...
Impact ease grid icon - orb showing diagram of an impact and ease grid

Identifying low-hanging fruit

Using an impact-ease grid to maximise leverage on results – – ...
Kipling list icon - orb showing who, what, when, where, why and how labels representing avoiding action fugginess

Avoiding action fugginess – Kipling Lists

Ensuring the who, what, when, where, how, and why – – ...
Planning chart icon - orb with people looking at a planning chart

Using a planning chart

Laying it all out in detail to ensure it fits in ...
Action questions - Orb showing question to encourage action

Questions to encourage Action

Using questions to bring clarity to what will happen when – ...
Money down the drain - orb showing dollar notes going down a drain representing the $500 bet

The $500 bet

The question that causes people to take another look – – ...
Action minutes - Orb showing a person speaking through a speaker

Action Minutes

A quick and simple way to document responsibilities – – – ...
Building commitment - orb showing a handshake

Challenging commitment

There are many levels to commitment, which are we at? – ...
Action tracking 300 - orb with a graph of different percentages representing tracking action completion

Tracking Action Completion

Applying ‘what gets measured gets done’ to actions – – – ...
Conducting difficult conversations - orb showing an ostrich with its head in the sand

Conducting difficult conversations

Addressing issues in delivery and commitment – – – – – ...
Force field icon - orb with arrows pointing either side to a person representing re-balancing motivation

Re-balancing motivation

Using a force-field diagram to improve adopter engagement – – – ...
Solution effect diagram - orb showing a blank solution and fishbone diagram

Looking at the implications

Mapping the downsides to turn them into upsides – – – ...
Argument sphere - orb with people round a table representing conducting a pre-mortem

Conducting a Pre-Mortem

A clever way to learn from failure BEFORE it happens – ...
Camscanner blog - orb showing photocapture of meeting outputs

Photocapture of meeting outputs

Mobile tools that make it easy to record outcomes – – ...
Plan - orb with people looking at a planning chart

Driving activity between meetings

Using ‘always-on’ whiteboards to keep the thinking active – – – ...

Basic meeting tools and techniques for better Assessment

Mood indicator 300 - orb containing five different mood faces for tracking audience mood and responses

Tracking Audience Mood and Responses

There is a skill in presenting at the right pace and ...
Feet on scales - orb showing feet on a weighing scale representing one strategy most likely to succeed

The one strategy most likely to succeed

When it comes down to it, all change is personal. It ...
World scale green - orb showing different height green columns with people standing on some and an image of the world behind

Meeting Effectiveness Maturity Model

Maturity Models are simply tables that describe the journey between poor ...
Track your progress - orb showing a graph and pie chart to represent ensuring productive meetings

Tracking your progress in ensuring productive meetings

Why do so many inefficient meetings exist? Meetings are a crucial ...
Assessment questions - orb showing a mortar board and a question mark

Questions to support Assessment

Good questions are the most powerful tools available to us The ...
Feedback less than perfect - orb showing an unhappy face

What does it mean if I receive feedback that is less than perfect?

The straight answer is basically that for some people, at some ...
Understanding meeting needs - orb with lines of people holding hands representing structuring effective meetings

Structuring Effective Meetings

If you are an organisation or individual seeking to create an ...
Meeting review - orb showing two armed weighing scales

Checking back on the objectives

Learning from how well the objectives have been met – – ...
Meeting review - orb showing two armed weighing scales

Meeting Review using WWW/AFI

About meeting reviews Meeting Reviews are a simple and grossly under-utilised ...