Team Meeting Ideas For Better Engagement

The workweek is filled with meetings. Whether it’s a one-on-one with your direct report or a strategy session for an upcoming product launch, face-to-face meetings are an integral part of your team's success. Without these regular catch-ups and check-ins, a team can quickly lose focus on working together to achieve a common goal. 

However, if your team joins a Zoom call and no one feels like socializing or engaging, is the meeting really that successful? 

That’s where team engagement comes into play. 

Keeping your team members engaged during meetings is vital for improving communication and inspiring new ideas. The best part? It doesn’t need to take a ton of work on your end! There are plenty of fun and interactive ways to improve the workplace experience for the individual, and they all start with innovative team meetings.

Not sure how to spice up your virtual meetings? Don't worry; we're here to help. 

Here are 13 virtual team engagement meeting ideas you can utilize to inspire your team and get the most out of your online meetings.

Take Your Meetings Outside

The sun is out, the weather is looking better, and your team deserves to spend the lovely day outside! If the weather permits, don’t be afraid to move your meeting to the park or the backyard. Even if you have a remote workforce, you can invite your team to go on a walk around the neighborhood or take the meeting from their patio.

This simple but effective team engagement meeting idea is a quick, healthy, and free way to improve communication and keep your team engaged in the moment. Be open to team members asking questions about each other's backgrounds, neighborhoods, or homes. Getting out of the (home) office helps increase endorphins and keep your team members engaged from start to finish.

Surprise Your Team With a Vision Board Workshop

Our vision board workshop is designed to help individuals focus and reflect on their personal goals and how to achieve them. This team meeting activity encourages your team to have an open mind, enjoy an insightful arts and crafts session, and transfer their thoughts into creative form.

Together, your team will build a personal, intention-based vision board. Everyone will need to bring paper, a pen, and art supplies. During the hour-long workshop, your team will craft a vision board from the comfort of their home and have an opportunity to reflect on their desires and aspirations.

The workshop can accommodate up to 1,000 individuals per session, making an excellent staff meeting idea for larger teams. Creative exercises help break up the monotony of the workweek so your team can tackle challenges with a clear and focused mind.

Utilize icebreakers 

Whether you have a few new hires or you’re looking for a fun way to get people ready to engage, you can’t go wrong with icebreakers! These fun mini-games help team members break through workplace formalities and get to know each other better. Most icebreakers only last around 5–10 minutes, so you don’t need to worry about the activity taking too much time away from your team meeting. 

Here are a few quick and easy icebreakers you can consider:

• 20 questions 

• Never have I ever 

• This or that 

• Categories 

• Two truths and a lie

• Bingo 

• Virtual charades

Bring in a Guest Speaker

If the same person is in charge of hosting the same meetings every week, your employees are more likely to lose focus and concentration. This virtual team engagement meeting idea is a great way to keep your team’s attention and break up the monotony of the same ol' meetings. The speaker doesn’t need to be a total outsider either: the head of another team can still provide valuable insight and pique your team’s interest. Consider bringing in a guest speaker to:

●      A Q&A session

●      Teach your team something new

●      Share an impactful or inspiring story

●      Train them on a new software or application update

●      Go through a “How to”

If you aren't sure what your team will enjoy most, don't be afraid to survey them! There’s no shame in asking their opinions in order to pick the perfect guest speaker for their needs.

Play Get to Know Your Team Trivia

What better way to spice up the work week than with a trivia meeting? This team trivia challenge is just like regular trivia, but with a personal twist. Before the experience, your team will answer a few simple questions about themselves.

When the day comes for everyone to gather on Zoom, they’ll quickly learn that all of the questions for the game are about each other! Throughout the experience, everyone will learn more about their team members, build personal connections, and discover new ways to engage with their work and their coworkers.

Create a Desktop Garden

Working at the same spot in your home can get boring, especially when your days are stuffed with back-to-back meetings. Luckily, this is an easy fix! People are significantly more productive when surrounded by office plants. Our Create a Desktop Garden workshop gives your employees an opportunity to spice up their home offices with live, easy-to-care-for vegetation.

During this relaxing team engagement experience, everyone will put together their own bamboo planter for attractive succulents, handpicked by our farm partner. The experience lasts an hour, after which your employees will feel refreshed, energized, and ready to engage in the meeting.

Workout meetings

Sometimes, all you need is a quick endorphin booster. Moving your body and prioritizing exercise is a great way to keep your team engaged, entertained, happy, and healthy! There are unlimited team meeting ideas to get your meeting moving, from taking your Zoom call mobile with a walk through the park or scheduling our Yoga for People Who Work at Desk experience.

This activity is a therapeutic movement experience specially designed to help take care of your body during work. Your team will be encouraged to use a mix of sitting and standing throughout the day and practice breathing, stretches, and joint circle exercises. After the class, your team will have a suite of new, simple body movements and exercises they can utilize to improve their work-from-home experience.

Unlocked For Teams

How often do you have the opportunity to play a virtual escape game with your coworkers? This immersive experience invites your team to engage and work together through one of several escape scenarios. Everyone will get together on Zoom before being split up into breakout rooms and introduced to the online dashboard.

Once in the dashboard, they’ll receive their mission from headquarters. They’ll need to analyze files, go through audio recordings, and channel their inner detective if they want to be the first team to escape.

This is one of our most fun team meeting ideas you can choose. It’s the perfect combination of engaging and entertaining: making it great as an employee appreciation event or quarterly team activity.

Address Burnout

Burnout can become a serious problem in the workplace. If your team has low morale or doesn't have the drive to join meetings, complete projects, or share their input, it can impact everyone around them. 

With our Busting Burnout Talk workshop, our host will sit down with your team to discuss the physiological and psychological effects of burnout. Then, we'll walk your team through different writing exercises designed to help them live a more harmonious life. 

This virtual team engagement meeting idea shows your team you care about them and want to improve their overall well-being. After the hour-long activity, your team will learn how to identify symptoms of burnout and make more time for themselves when they feel overwhelmed. 

Plan a skills workshop

We are always learning, no matter our industry or profession. Setting up a skills workshop for your team is a great way to show you care about their growth and want to help mold them into the professionals they aspire to be. These workshops cover topics relevant to professional development that your employees will find compelling, including:

●      Mindfulness and Meditation

●      Time Management

●      Personal Finance and Financial Literacy

●      Personal Branding

When setting up a skills workshop, you'll always want to consider your team and their unique needs and interests. Their needs and aspirations will guide you to set up an exciting skills workshop that will be worthwhile for the individual.

Paint Party with Basic Kit

Is your team in a creative rut? We’ve all been there at some point. The truth is, it’s hard to stay creative 24/7, especially if you’re in a creative role at your company. One of the best ways to get those creative juices flowing again is with a paint party.

This engagement meeting idea invites your team to mix, mingle, and paint. The experience is led by a talented instructor who’s there to answer any questions along the way. In the end, your team will share their masterpieces with each other. This pre-planned virtual experience requires virtually no set-up: Each participant will receive everything they need to paint in a kit delivered directly to their home.

This team meeting activity is an hour and a half long and can accommodate up to 500 individuals. If you’re looking to celebrate your employees, consider supplementing the paint party with a gift card to grab some lunch or a bottle of wine afterward. This is a great way to show them you appreciate everything they do for the company!

Team Pottery Party

How often do you have an opportunity to try out pottery? Pottery is mindful and therapeutic; this experience will remind your team to take a step back from the grind of the workweek and focus on themselves for a moment. 

Everyone will receive a comprehensive kit with everything they need for the activity delivered directly to their home. Then, our expert instructor will teach the pinch pot technique, guiding your team every step of the way. In the end, while your creations air dry, you can provide important updates, discuss upcoming projects, and carry on with your regular team meeting.

Unwind and Relax 

Let's be honest: The sheer number of meetings on the calendar every week can be overwhelming. If your team needs a break, consider planning a team engagement activity that focuses on mindfulness. In our Coffee and Calm Workshop, for instance, your team is invited to experience a meditative experience with their coworkers. 

The workshop welcomes your employees to explore their personal rituals and learn how to meditate and journal. This peaceful experience is perfect for team members who need a moment to step back, unwind, and relax.

Keep your employees engaged with Elevent

Team engagement is an integral part of the workplace. If your team doesn’t engage, connect, or communicate during any of its daily activities, motivation and productivity will suffer. 

Any of the examples from this list of ideas for team engagement meetings – or any of our dozens of other exciting virtual team activities – can help your team feel more connected, energized, and united. They’ll be excited to take on new projects, build connections with coworkers, and join every meeting with a positive mindset.

At Elevent, we want to help you. If you’re ready to book your next engaging team activity, contact us today.

Originally published at Jan 17 2023, 1:34:00 PM. Updated on May 4 2024.