Do you find mornings to be a challenge when it comes to getting your team up and going? It can be tough to get motivated when it feels like there are so many hours left in the day.
Whether your team is meeting in person or virtually, morning meetings do have their benefits. Quickly touching base with your team before the day starts is a great way to clarify the day's intentions, check in on projects, and share any issues experienced the day before.
So morning meetings do serve a purpose, but they also need to be engaging. If not, then you run the risk of having a meeting that puts everyone to sleep (literally).
That's why we've put together this list of 8 interactive morning meeting activities that will help get everyone on their feet and ready to take on the day!
Obviously, the point of a morning meeting is to get everyone aligned and on the same page for the day ahead. But that doesn't mean you can't be creative with your meeting format! A great way to do this is to start with a brainstorming session. This gets everyone's brains moving and allows you to collect a lot of ideas in a short amount of time.
We, of course, have a way to simplify the process, with our Meeting Kickoff slide deck. Your group can access the questions on their phones and answer the prompts. You'll have complete control over how many answers the group will see, so this morning brainstorming session can be as short or as long as you want.
It can be hard to come into the office and just be expected to hit the ground running. One way to ease into the morning's meeting is to start with a few icebreakers. These can be as simple as going around the room and sharing one thing you're looking forward to today or something that made you smile yesterday. It'll help everyone get in the right headspace for a productive meeting.
Slides With Friends' Icebreaker Poll Questions deck only takes 5-10 minutes and has 3 polls and a word cloud to get the conversation flowing. Add a few of your own questions to segue from your icebreakers to your topic for the morning meeting.
Let's keep it simple: Start the day off with a Q&A session. Q&As are a great way to get everyone on the same page and ready to tackle the day. We recommend letting the group know ahead of time who will be answering questions. The heads-up will give everyone time to come up with questions when they're not just waking up.
Another approach for a Q&A is to do an AMA - or Ask Me Anything. Open up the floor for a set period (we recommend 10-15 minutes) and allow the group to ask questions to the 'me' of the day. This can be done with a guest speaker or even just someone from the team who is an expert on a certain topic. This is a great way to get everyone engaged and involved in the meeting.
While you could use a wide range of Slides With Friends slide decks for a Q&A, we recommend our Poll the Audience deck. Just add a few text answer slides to give your group a place to type in their questions.
We love the idea of sharing during a morning meeting. Add a little interaction to your meeting by asking each person to share one personal update and one professional update. The balance of the personal and professional is a great way to start the morning out on the right foot.
Plus, a workplace round-robin is a great way to get to know your team on a deeper level and allow everyone to stay in the loop with what's going on professionally. It only takes a few minutes per person so it won't up too much time out of everyone's day.
Meeting Icebreaker is a short, simple slide deck you can use on Slides With Friends to give prompts to your morning crew. While the pre-made deck uses rating slides and a photo prompt, you can easily edit these to be answered out loud or in writing, the perfect way for your team to share in the morning.
One way to make your morning meeting more interactive is to pair it with the one thing we all want in the morning: Coffee. Or tea. Or a pastries. The best part about having a coffee morning meeting is it translates super well to virtual or hybrid meetings, too. Just let the group know to have their favorite morning beverage on hand.
Then, go around the meeting and have everyone share what they're looking forward to today or what's on their mind. This is a great way to open up the meeting for discussion while still getting everyone caffeinated and motivated for the day ahead.
Plus, there's always the potential for meeting-goers to bond over shared coffee preferences.
Our favorite slide deck to use during a coffee meeting is Good Morning, Team! The icebreaker works wonderfully to encourage conversation and get your meeting off to an engaging start.
Who knew controversy could be fun in the morning?
Create a lot of interaction with your group by keeping things short and light. Share a controversial opinion with the group and let them debate. The goal here isn't to come to a resolution but rather to get the group talking, thinking, and - hopefully - laughing.
Our Controversial Questions slide deck is especially great for remote team morning meetings, as it gives everyone a chance to speak up and share their thoughts without getting too bogged down in discussion.
What are these controversial questions, you ask?
- Is a hot dog a sandwich?
- Does pineapple belong on pizza?
- Were Ross and Rachel on a break?
This thought-provoking (and maybe even funny) prompts are sure to get the debate started and your group engaged before the work day.
Why do we stop doing show and tell after middle school? Adults still have plenty of things they'd like to share with the group!
Show and tell is a great way to get everyone interacting and engaged. Have each team member bring in something from home to show the group. It can be anything from a favorite book to a family photo. This is a great way to get to know your team better and have some fun at the same time.
You can also adapt show and tell for remote or hybrid meetings. Using Slides With Friends Group Check-In deck, have your group send in pictures based on the prompts. Use the little insight into your co-workers as a way to connect with them.
Start the meeting with a trivia game. Instead of starting the day focused on work, ease into it by warming up with a game. The right game will help everyone get in the right mindset and be ready to tackle the day.
Slides With Friends has loads of trivia games (we love trivia!), so you can pick a different trivia theme for multiple meetings. Our favorite at the moment is the Who's the Biggest Movie Nerd, a short 6 questions deck to get your group talking in the morning!
For those of us who aren't early risers, morning meetings are hard. But with just a little effort, a few games, and lots of connection opportunities, morning meetings can be something to look forward to. And a great way to start your workday on a high note!
