Move beyond the clichés

- Let’s take it offline 
- I hear what you’re saying
- Let’s car park it 
- I’ll take it on board

These meeting clichés can be said to dismiss, defer or redirect attention. 

We might be economical, to “keep things moving”, so we use clichés for convenience. 

But they’re overused, unoriginal and predictable. 

Clichés might be convenient for you but they’re not so good for genuine, human conversations and interactions. 

People zone out. It doesn’t connect. 


Why not say what a human would say to another human, in a normal conversation style. 

Speak originally and genuinely, leaving ‘cliché city’ behind! 

The distances between us call for greater humanity and originality.

In a world where connection with each other has been impacted, it’s worth us trying to communicate in more human ways ... not less. 

What’s the backstory and how will you uncover it

Many a meeting or workshop happens because we want to gather ideas from people, or ‘bring them along’ as a group or team. 

And each meeting presents ideal opportunities to connect, engage and share stories. 

But some meetings don’t allow even a few minutes here and there to listen and learn from people’s experiences. 

It’s such a shame we might push on with progress and not value this experience. 

If you’re feeling a disconnect or distance in your team or group, be sure to build in and allow time for sharing stories. 

It’s how we make sense of what’s going on. 

Invest some time:
- at the start of meetings
- between agenda items
- returning from breaks
... to hear from people. 

Give more time to understand a backstory or personal perspective. 

It can help inform what happens next. 

How creative could you be

Too many boring and dull online meetings, right?

How do we make things more interesting? And are we waiting for someone else to do the ‘be more creative’ thing?

There’s a personal scale of creativity - things that I think are creative and engaging, you may not. And vice versa. 

With that in mind, we can design and lead a number of creative exercises or activities that work in online meetings. 

Things like:
- Starter or kick off activities 
- Short icebreakers
- Introduction questions
- Quick energizers 
- Focus exercises to bring us back on topic 
- Get to know you activities 
- Idea generation exercises 
- Wrap up and summary tasks.  

None of them have to be long and drawn out. Some people wrongly think we don’t have time to bring more creativity to online meetings.

Even short bursts of a different activity can lift a mood, boost interest and attention or change the level of engagement. 

Times are tough anyway. We don’t need to make the mood worse with dull and drawn out online meetings!

It’s worth a little more effort to make the hours we spend online more interesting and more effective. 

We can all make a creative contribution here, whether leading the activity ... or participating in it. 

‘Does that make sense?’

We ask this question when we’re thinking, talking, meeting, training, and presenting. 

It’s to check with ourselves - am I making sense to myself? 

And then ... am I making sense to you? 

It’s kind of asking, ‘Do you get it?’

We use the phrase ‘making sense' habitually and unconsciously. It’s a human thing. 

We develop our natural Sensemaking abilities as we learn and grow up. 

But given the changing and uncertain world we live in, being able to build and accelerate our Sensemaking capabilities means we can get to decisions sooner. 

And then take action sooner, despite the uncertainty. 

When you hesitate and procrastinated it could be because things aren’t making sense. We may keep plodding along waiting until they do. 

But if we use some Sensemaking tools and techniques, we can move on from indecision and hesitation... to action. 

It’s quite empowering and momentum building! 

Listen out for ‘does that make sense?’ It’s a sign we are most certainly in Sensemaking mode for ourselves ... and others. 

Why aren’t our meetings more creative

We’re not to blame! Our meeting cultures date back decades, even centuries to how parliaments and governments functioned. 

These old systems run deep and aren’t quick or easy to change when they’re passed on via generations, leaders and cultures. 

It’s a risk to change or suggest something needs to change. Instead we endure, tolerate and bemoan boring, inefficient and ineffective meetings ...online or otherwise. 

Why else? 

- Some people believe work is serious and creativity isn’t serious enough. 

- For others it’s easier to do what they’ve always done and play it straight.  

- Change can be difficult to make working in dominant and powerful structures and systems. 

- We may not want to stand out, mess up, look foolish or be criticized for trying more creativity. 

- We may not think we’re creative enough. 

- And we can wonder ... is it even possible to be creative in a meeting? 


There are many activities and ways of working in meetings that are clever, help us think better and make easier progress. 

These are creative ... and they’re effective and productive too!