15 Interactive Meeting Ideas to Hold Engaging Meetings

Companies hold regular corporate meetings to move the business forward. Interactive meetings compared to regular meetings encourage teamwork and help to find possible solutions to problems.

They are also useful for reviewing the daily, weekly, or monthly performance of staff. Through meetings, the company progresses by making decisions and planning new projects.

This makes the consideration of interactive meeting ideas crucial for your business success.

However, some businesses conduct frequent conferences that slow down the team’s productivity. In addition, some members find these meetings dull and annoying.

Used well, the virtual or in-person planning sessions can be greatly beneficial.

As the interactive meeting organizer, your focus should not be on the topic or project proposal alone. Think of ways to make the discussions fruitful while involving everyone.

We’ll help you with tips and interactive meeting ideas to keep everyone engaged and having fun, while still getting the job done.

What is an Interactive Meeting?

Interactive meetings are a type of session where participants actively engage, collaborate, and take part in different activities, discussions, or tasks, rather than simply listening passively to a presenter or speaker. 

The primary goal of an interactive meeting is to promote active participation, enhance communication, and generate meaningful contributions from all attendees. Various businesses and organizations hold interactive meetings to foster engagement and achieve specific goals. 

Key characteristics that set apart interactive meetings are:

• Active participation
• Engagement
• Two-way communication
• Collaboration
• Variety of activities
• Goal-oriented
• Feedback and reflection
• Taking advantage of technology

Benefits of Holding Interactive Meetings

Interactive meetings hold great power to significantly enhance the overall effectiveness and outcomes of your gathering. If you’re still not sure whether interactive meetings will benefit your business, these advantages will help you decide:

• Better engagement among attendees
• Enhanced collaboration
• Effective communication
• Higher retention rates
• Better problem-solving skills
• Higher motivation
• Effective decision-making
• Time-efficiency
• Creativity boost
• Greater inclusivity
• Always improving
• Flexibility
• Boosted morale
• Tangible results

And if you ask yourself “How can I make my meeting more interactive?” we’ve got you covered!

15 Interactive Meeting Ideas

How do you start an interactive meeting?

Starting an interactive meeting sets the tone for the whole meeting and its outcomes. But how do you start an interactive meeting to make sure it’s a successful one?

Utilize icebreakers

If you want to create a welcoming, friendly, and relaxed atmosphere for your next interactive meeting, icebreakers are the way to go! Start your meeting with a fun icebreaker activity. It could be a quick round of “Two Truths and a Lie”, a virtual scavenger hunt, or a simple question like “What’s one interesting thing that happened to you this week?”

Icebreakers are a great way to build rapport, promote diversity and inclusion, boost creativity, and energize the group. It also helps you set the right meeting tone. When you use icebreakers, it’s easy to transition smoothly to the next thing on your meeting agenda. It will encourage attendees to participate actively, and icebreakers are extremely memorable. If your goal is to boost morale and create memorable interactive meetings, icebreakers are a great way to achieve that.

They are not just fun and games, though. Icebreakers serve as a valuable tool for creating a positive interactive meeting environment.  

Have a smooth start

Another important aspect is to think about the best time to hold a meeting. Monday is often considered to be a good time to discuss business matters with the team.

But Monday is, in fact,  the most productive day of the week. Employees have rested from work and now have the energy for all the essential tasks.

According to recent meeting statistics, a good option is Tuesday mid-morning (10 am-12 pm). However, it still depends on your preferences and business needs.

Before starting a meeting, it is best to engage with the meeting attendees. Having interaction and sharing positive news will start a meeting off well.

It’s possible to share something positive in 30 seconds. This may include items such as:

• Mentioning the last meeting’s accomplishment.
• Talking about a meaningful and funny experience.
• Praising attendees for a job well done in the past week.
• Sharing a work-related accomplishment with everyone.

Polls and surveys

Once you’ve started an interactive meeting successfully, it’s time to utilize ideas that make sure everything goes smoothly until the end. We’ve got those, too!

One great idea for interactive meetings is to use polls and surveys because you’ll quickly gather insights from participants. Whether you need to gauge opinions, preferences, or understanding of a topic, polls, and surveys are a great way to collect data.

Using polls and surveys also adds interactive elements to your meetings. Participants are actively involved in conversations, and their responses steer the direction of the discussion. You can also tailor questions to suit the specific goals of the meeting. Besides, they give every participant an equal opportunity to express their perspectives. 

Once you’ve got the data, you can make data-driven decisions and grow your business with insights from these interactive meetings. 

Breakout rooms

If you have many employees and different teams, and you struggle to make them all work cohesively together, breakout rooms are an excellent idea for your next meeting. You’ll make it more interactive, but more importantly, all participants will engage effectively. By dividing attendees into smaller groups, they’ll have more in-depth discussions. 

You’ll also allow everyone to express themselves and gather diverse perspectives on the topic. After that, it’s time to compare and contrast the ideas and results they’ve generated, which leads to a richer discussion. Breakout rooms are also a great way for different teams to build relationships. Maybe they didn’t have as many chances to talk to each other, and this idea for interactive meeting will foster their relationship. 

Brainstorm with your team

It’s important to ensure that all attendees feel included and as a part of the group. Encourage creative thinking and help one another to have a smooth flow of ideas.

Try to do the following:

Brainstorm session

Be specific on the project the team is to accomplish. Encourage everyone to participate by letting them share ideas on the topic provided.

Take it easy and keep the pace relaxed. Refrain from interrupting when one of the members gives an opinion.

6-3-5 brainwriting method

In this type of brainstorming, the aim is to be more specific. The discussion leader will mention a particular problem.

They then select six participants from the team, asking them to write down three ideas in 5 minutes. Afterward, they passed the paper with three suggestions to the next six participants.

The procedure will continue until they reach the best possible solution.

Talk about the worst ideas

Mostly, leaders or other team members disregard bad ideas. But in this method, everyone will entertain the worst ideas.

Have you ever had a mental block? That could happen if the team is only thinking about good suggestions.

By considering the worst ideas, you are becoming more creative. Who knows, these bad ideas may be the only solution for that long-time problem.

Include small talk

Life is too short to be too serious. When it comes to meetings, attendees may feel uncomfortable or intimidated by the project leader.

This results in a lack of productivity and less talk. If there’s less talk, it’s more challenging to get ideas from one another.

Use at least 10 minutes to ask about the team members’ well-being. Talk about events over the weekend or other topics that will encourage discussion.

Encourage engagement

Teamwork is essential for a successful project. When you’re the project leader, it’s vital to build an engaged team.

This will more likely happen by using interactive meeting ideas and prepared activities. For example, set a round of charades, quick problem-solving, or a timed scavenger hunt.

In these activities, share topics related to the business proposals or the projects. In that way, the team is learning and having fun at the same time.

Another activity is having the attendees sketch the person next to them. As a result, everyone will feel comfortable with each other.

They will be more open, positive, and generous in sharing their thoughts and business proposals.

Create separate teams

Similar to breakout rooms, splitting the team into other sub-teams will encourage engagement. Keeping the attendees all in one group can lead to boredom after several minutes.

Groupings can help to outsource work and ideas. Create a subject, then split the team into various groups.

Encourage them to brainstorm and help each other out while trying to solve the problem. This also helps to lessen the time of your discussion.

Having different teams to find the possible solution, you can choose between these ideas and see which one works best.

Choose attendees wisely

You are in the meeting not to waste time but to solve a problem or discuss a business proposal. So it’s essential to invite team members who are willing and committed.

Another thing to consider is meeting management. It’s challenging to manage a meeting with a large group of people.

So, divide meeting attendees into several groups, with a maximum of 10 people in a room. This will also maximize the ideas and activities as a result.

Ask questions

Asking questions is another way to engage the team. One idea is to write down questions for a specific team member.

Listen carefully, and thank those who are brave enough to share their thoughts. It is also prudent to inquire about their contribution to the project.

Some possible questions to ask include:

• What will you improve in this project, and why?
• What would you change in our business proposal? Why?
• What is your favorite part of this project?
• What is your least favorite of this project?
• Are you happy with the result?

Letting them answer these questions is another interactive meeting idea. Ask everyone to participate, and mention them by name when calling on them.

However, keep your tone as friendly as possible. This will prevent participants from feeling scared or intimidated.

Pick a person that will set the right atmosphere

It would be best to have a member who is willing to win a project for the team. Pay keen attention to the attendees.

See which one of them speaks confidently. Then let that person talk first to set the right atmosphere.

When there’s one confident person it can encourage others to feel more freedom. Their positive example will bring a positive outcome for the whole team.

Choose a good meeting location

Sometimes, location or meeting venue can impact the team’s productivity. Experiencing a different ambiance or scenery will help team members feel engaged and can improve everyone’s mood.

You could choose a local coffee shop or a coworking space. That way, no one will feel they are confined in a four-corner room.

The result may be surprising, especially the way it boosts the team’s creativity.

If you are on a remote team, take the opportunity to give team members a challenge. For example, suggest going to a place with a similar environment to Tim Horton.

Or ask if you can have the meetings at the new coffee shop in town.

Moving to different locations can make the team feel like you are just having fun. Apart from that, it provides an opportunity to get to know everyone.

Highlight the key meeting information

There’s probably one thing you want to highlight in your interactive meeting. That is the core of the discussion that will help to make the business proposal successful.

If that is the case, use the majority of the time to highlight the key information. When doing this, create several scenarios that leave an impression on the viewer or listener.

One suggestion is to present it in an emotional manner. Another way is to express the ideas through jokes or comedic acts.

In other words, present the information in a way that grabs attention.

Another term for this strategy is a “S.T.A.R. moment”, created by Nancy Duarte, Duarte Designs Founder, and CEO. This stands for “Something They’ll Always Remember.”

Using this interactive meeting idea helps audiences to remember the focus of the meeting.

Putting These Interactive Meeting Ideas Into Action

Employing these interactive meeting ideas will help your business to progress and grow. With good planning and proper implementation, interactive business meetings will provide many benefits.

There will also be more productive team members who are willing to work together.

All of these interactive meeting ideas will give attendees something to look forward to. Moreover, they will have fun while learning and helping the business to thrive.

Another thing to keep in mind is scheduling. Late meetings with late attendees cause distractions.

If you enjoyed reading this article about interactive meeting ideas, you should read these as well:

• The Best Virtual Meeting Platforms and Software For Your Company
• The Best Free Meeting Scheduler Tools You Can Use
• The Best Slack Apps for Integration That Your Company Needs
• The Best Time Management Apps and Tools You Can Find Online
• How to Schedule Meetings Across Time Zones