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For meeting leaders, it can be challenging to consistently make regular, standing meetings interesting and relevant.  If you’re the meeting leader, you might feel obligated to set the agenda and come prepared with all the answers.  If you do, you will suck the life out of the meeting and lull participants to sleep.  Here’s a way to increase engagement.

At the start of each meeting, ask participants to complete the following sentence in 15 seconds or less.  “The one thing I would like to walk away from this meeting with is…” Listen to what is said. Use their responses to shape the agenda and guide the depth and quality of the conversation 

This simple question can lead to three positive outcomes.  It invites attendees to lend their voice to the meeting and make their point of view public.  It encourages everyone to make constructive contributions to the meeting.  And, if the meeting’s objectives and desired takeaways are clearly defined, people are more likely to work together to achieve them.

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