Why aren’t they responding

Online meetings can give us the vibe that people aren’t listening, are disengaged or don’t have much interest in what the meeting’s about. 

It’s a natural response, though. We can’t pick up on those micro cues of body language that we might pick up when we’re all in each other’s company!

But don’t let this deter you from designing and delivering highly engaging experiences online. 

If you’ve asked the team a question and you aren’t getting a response ...
wait longer. 

Maybe they’re still thinking. 
Give them time to respond. 
Give them time to prepare. 

Your rush for a response might not be a match for their need for thinking time. 

Some people think before talking. Some people talk before thinking. 

To support and include all sorts, ask and wait. 
Or ask and come back to it later. 
Or ask well before the meeting and hear from people in the meeting. 

And of course, it could be the question. 

Prepare beforehand and work out what questions you’ll ask. 

We can always ask a better question. 

What is a breakout room really for

So many online meetings!
So many breakout rooms!

And there’s too much “break into a room and have a chat” going on. 

While yes, connection, conversation and support are wonderful, there comes a point where more structure is needed. 


When used lazily, breakout rooms waste time, disengage people and fail to bring out valuable contribution. 

The breakout room is not to:
❌Kill or take up time
❌Give the facilitator or speaker a break
❌Get participants just doing something... anything.

People have wonder and genius to share. Let’s help them share it!


What’s better to do in a breakout room? 
- Wrestle with a question (better than ‘what do you think of ...?’)
- Share stories on a theme or topic 
- Solve a problem 
- Apply a process
- Generate ideas
- Reflect or review 
- Teach each other 
- Draft or craft
- Uncover insights 
- Prepare or rehearse
- Connect dots
- Plan a response ...


There is more and better we can do in online meetings. 

And a worthy effort is how we discover and uncover contribution. 

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. 

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! 

Why it’s worth being a little more creative in meetings

You don’t have to go way out there creative. Just a little can make a difference. 


🔶 For participants 

Are they participants - they’ll be doing, contributing and participating? Or are they attendees, an audience of spectators just watching and listening?

Creativity brings focus, stimulation to keep interest high and helps hold attention. 

Creativity makes memories. If you’re dealing with dry or complex matters, creativity anchors the key points. 

It brings content to life!


🔶 For you 

Creativity helps you stay interested. If it’s good for you, it’s likely to be good for them too. 

Moods and energy are infectious. If you’re not feelin’ it, they won’t be!

Creativity helps keep content fresh if it’s repetitive or the same topic as the last meeting. 

Variety alerts us. 


Many meetings are experiences of monotonous boredom. They benefit from injections of creativity. 

You don’t have to go for crazy creativity. A subtle or clever activity can build engagement, make swifter progress and help reach better outcomes. 

Are you using creativity in meetings?