Meetings are a norm in every company or organization. Team meetings are held to exchange ideas, set goals and expectations, share progress, and attend to other important matters.
The way you start your meetings matters. Getting off on the wrong foot might affect the quality of the interaction. For example, if a meeting starts with a serious argument between participants, the atmosphere may be too tense and inhibit the free flow of ideas.
Kicking off your meeting in an inspirational way lays the foundation for a productive and efficient meeting. When team members feel super motivated at the start of the meeting, they’ll be energized to bring their A-game to the table. By implication, you should expect solid results as the team performance level is high.
Want to know how to start your meetings in the most inspirational way, thus boosting team morale? Look no further. This article highlights 10 inspirational openings to keep your team inspired and motivated to produce good work!
Why should you start a meeting with inspirational openings?
It’s simple - to get your team powered up for the meeting.
Kicking off a meeting with a poor tone or low energy can dull the morale of participants. You don’t want members to lose interest in the middle of the meeting or right from the start. So, you should explore creative ways to get everyone kicking from the very beginning.
It’s more important to start with inspirational openings because the tone in which a meeting starts will likely be the tone in which the rest of the meeting will follow. If you start tensed or with minimal participation from members, don’t be surprised if the atmosphere remains uptight 30 minutes or an hour into the meeting. However, the meeting could take a positive turn at some point.
For efficient and productive meetings, ensure that everyone feels motivated and enthusiastic as you start. How? By kicking off with inspirational openings. It helps to create and maintain positivity during your meetings.
Types of inspirational meetings
What are some of the meetings that keep your team inspired and motivated for work? Let’s find out.
Monday morning meetings:
Being the first day of work, there’s always so much pressure for Mondays to be productive. I guess it’s connected to the idea of starting well.
That aside, holding inspirational meetings on Monday mornings can get your employees charged up for a productive week. It’s a common thing these days. Many organizations hold short Monday morning meetings to share expectations for the week and inspire staff.
Check-in meetings:
Check-in meetings are another way to inspire and motivate team members. It’s common for managers to check in with teams to inquire about the progress on projects that the team may be working on.
With simple words such as “Well done” or “Keep up the good work,” employees can be geared up to produce good quality on their tasks.
Debriefing sessions:
Oftentimes, when projects have been completed, meetings are held to debrief members of the team or the management on the outcome. Positive results and significance are highlighted, as well as drawbacks or shortcomings.
By pointing out positive results of their efforts and areas of improvement, team members can be motivated to do better on the next project. Managers also use debriefing meetings as an opportunity to appreciate and encourage team members.
You’ll be surprised that a simple “Well done and thank you for the good work” from a manager can go a long way.
10 interesting ways to start your meeting with inspiration
Here’s a list of some interesting ways to kick off your meetings with inspiration:
Use icebreakers
Start with motivational quotes
Celebrate team successes
Share recent learning experience
Talk about a podcast
Discuss personal inspirations
Commence with a thought-provoking question
Bring a guest speaker
Play a motivational video
Trace progress
Now, let’s discuss each of these ways in detail.
Use icebreakers
One of the most interesting ways to kick-off meetings of all kinds is using icebreakers. It’s a great way to break the awkward silence that is often associated with the start of a meeting.
Icebreakers help to brighten the mood of attendees, build rapport, and encourage participation. Kicking off with icebreakers will infuse a positive energy into the atmosphere, thus keeping attendees interested in the business of the day.
Icebreakers could be fun games or conversation starters. If you’re looking for icebreakers ideas to use for your meeting, here are some you can try:
Game ideas:
Rock-paper-scissors
Charades
Have you ever
Two truths and one lie
Conversation starters:
How did you spend your weekend/vacation?
What is your current favorite song?
What do you do during your leisure time?
If you could time travel, would you travel to the past or the future? And why?
What movie series are you currently following?
Who is your favorite movie character?
Tell us something interesting about you.
Start with a motivational quote
I know motivational quotes seem a bit cliche, but they actually do turn out to be really inspiring when used in the right setting. What better place to share some motivational words than in a team meeting?
Motivational quotes can inspire your team to put their best foot forward and keep them feeling motivated throughout your meeting and even beyond.
Want to try this inspirational opening? Check out these motivational quotes to share at the start of your meeting:
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” - Vidal Sassoon
“The only way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” - Walt Disney
“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” Jimmy Dean
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” - Thomas Edison
“Do you know what happens when you give a procrastinator a good idea? Nothing.” - Donald Gardner
Celebrate successes
A person is motivated to keep working hard when they experience and celebrate their wins, no matter how little. When you start your meeting celebrating wins, you’re indirectly inspiring your team to work towards more success. And that’s an excellent way to start a meeting.
So, in your next meeting, ask each attendee to share something they succeeded at in the past week. It doesn’t haven’t to be work-related. Celebrate each person’s win as a team.
Share recent learning experiences
Asking attendees to share one or two things they recently learned can inspire feelings of achievement within the meeting. You know there’s this good feeling you get when you just learned something new. At that moment, you feel somewhat accomplished, and sometimes it stirs a yearning to learn more.
Adopting this approach to commencing your meetings can get attendees feeling positive about themselves and wanting to learn more so they can have something to share in the next meeting.
Talk about a podcast
People draw a lot of inspiration from podcasts. Podcasts, just like books, avail you insight into several subject matters, can motivate you to work towards your goals, and can also be good entertainment to relieve stress.
Discussing a podcast at the start of your meeting can pave the way for a positive and engaging team interaction. Encourage attendees to listen to a selected podcast before the meeting and have them share their takeaways as you commence your meeting.
Here are some interesting podcasts you can check out for this purpose:
Talk about personal inspirations
If you ever run out of ideas to start your meeting in an inspirational way, just share what has recently inspired you. You never know; it might inspire others to take positive actions in their life.
To make it more engaging, you can encourage attendees to also share something that recently inspired them. It may be related to work or deals with personal matters like family or relationships.
Commence with a thought-provoking question
Meetings are often used to brainstorm and exchange ideas. This deals with a lot of brain work. The more active participants you have, the better your meeting. Attendees need to be in their right state of mind to produce brilliant ideas during brainstorming sessions.
You can warm up your attendees’ brains by asking a powerful question at the beginning of the meeting. These questions can force attendees to evaluate themselves or situations. And this brain exercise is a good way to prepare their minds for the main focus of the meeting.
You can ask any of these questions at your next meeting:
What is/are your life goal(s)?
What is your philosophy of life?
If you could change one thing, what would it be?
What motivates you to show up every day?
What are your thoughts on [any recent event]?
Bring a guest speaker
You can spice up your team meetings by inviting someone to speak. The guest speaker could come with fresh perspectives that attendees may find very inspiring. And it also adds a different touch to your meeting.
You can have your speaker talk on a topic you’ve decided earlier or allow them to speak on a subject they personally choose. Either way, the goal is to bring in a new perspective that’ll inspire your team for success.
Examples of guest speakers you can bring to your meetings are:
CEOs of Top companies or startups
Motivational speakers
Life coaches
Thought leaders
Play a motivational video
If you can start your meeting with motivational quotes, you can also consider sharing motivational videos. Just like the quotes, motivational videos can inspire attendees and leave them feeling motivated to strive toward success in their careers.
Here are some motivational videos to share with your team:
Trace progress
Finally, kick off your meeting by sharing with your team the progress they’ve made so far. This is one of the most effective ways to inspire and spark motivation. Everyone loves to know that they’re making progress and their individual effort is paying off.
To make it more personal, you can share the progress each individual has made instead of highlighting the progress made as a team.
Passionate about productivity and workplace efficiency, Rivi delivers content that keeps you informed and ready to tackle your next meeting. Dive into Rivi's articles for a fresh, interesting take on staying ahead in today's fast-paced world!
