Flow State can also be described as this feeling of deep concentration and high productivity being “in the zone.” You’re beyond distraction, riding a wave of steady creativity, and pouring your whole mind and body into the task before you.

You’re beyond the perception of time — completely absorbed in your task, blocking out all the noise. It’s the kind of productivity you wish happened more often — the type of concentration that should accompany every challenge.

The good news is that you’ve likely experienced this a few times already under specific circumstances. Flow State is not exclusive to those in athletics or in the creative arts — it’s completely achievable for everyone.

What Is Flow State?

Flow theory was first introduced in the late 1970s by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychologist with immense contributions to both positive and flow psychology. He became fascinated by artists who became so lost in their creative work, they would lose track of time and barely sleep or eat. He observed this phenomenon occurring in athletes and authors as well.

In his influential book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, he states:

“[Flow is] being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”

Csikszentmihalyi theorizes that people are happiest when they’re in a state of flow as they’re so engaged in their work that they achieve supreme focus and hyperawareness. In his 2004 Ted Talk, Csikszentmihalyi explains that psychologists have found that the human mind can only attend to a certain amount of information at a time. Specifically, that number is 110 bits per second. For perspective, decoding speech takes about 60 bits of information per second. When you achieve flow state, you allocate all of these bits to the task at hand.

Put simply, achieving flow means being in a mental state where you find yourself so completely immersed in the task itself, you forget about the world around you. Your unique skills automatically take over at an unconscious level, which fuels your productivity. When your mind and body are working harmoniously, you no longer allow intrusive thoughts to distract you. Inducing Flow State brings a period of relaxed high performance that results in powerful outcomes.

Examples Of Flow State In Action:

Let’s take a look at some real-life examples of Flow State:

• Rappers – During a study done by the NIH to observe the difference in brain functions between improvised rap versus a rehearsed performance, it was theorized that “executive functions” were relaxed in order for more uncensored processes to take over, which could potentially be one of the pillars of creativity. During their performance, the rapper felt that they were outside of “conscious awareness” while doing spontaneous improvisation.

• Athletes – Before a race starts, an athlete is typically nervous about the possible outcome. As soon as they hear the gun go off, they’re in the zone, letting all distractions go, and not even feeling their exhaustion. They make it to the finish line, sometimes forgetting to give out high-gives or participate in celebration because they were so absorbed in their run, they forgot all else.
• Writing – One of the hallmarks of Flow State is for the experience to be rewarding. When authors are feeling particularly inspired and can imagine how satisfying it will feel to accomplish their writing goals, they can enter a flow state that enables them to produce to meet their writing goal…or maybe even a little more!
• Gamers – Games simplify the goal for you. It outlines what you need to accomplish, which allows your mind to focus your energy on achieving this goal. Nothing else matters at this point. Combine this with the adrenaline rush that usually accompanies a challenge, gamers can enter a flow state by trusting absolutely in their hand-eye coordination instead of overthinking the situation. Their minds and bodies are working together to achieve the intended outcome: to win!

The Ideal State To Induce Flow

(Source: ResearchGate)

In 1987, Csikszentmihalyi developed what’s now known as the Experience Fluctuation Model.

This combination of skill requirement and level of challenge is important in understanding what induces the Flow State. An individual is in a state of apathy (or very low interest in the task) when the activity requires little to no skill and is considered a low challenge. Conversely, when an individual is highly skilled but the challenge is low, they achieve a state of relaxation. However, if the challenge is high and the individual skill level is low, they will be in a state of anxiety.

The ideal state to induce flow is when the challenge and skill level are balanced. The mind is stimulated by the challenge and will utilize higher skill levels to complete the task.

It’s important to remember that In order for flow to occur, individuals must believe in their own skills. The key to unlocking flow is to have confidence that they can fully complete the task before them.

This is much easier said than done, of course. It takes time and practice to achieve a state that is rewarding in its outcome, tests and elevates our skills, and feels meaningful. For many people, the ingredients to induce flow are time, repetition, and resilience. For example, athletes require regular practice in order to develop their skills until it becomes habitual in nature. They’re able to achieve their goals by trusting in the skills they’ve worked so hard to gain and, over time, have built confidence in themselves through careful preparation.

What Are The Characteristics Of Flow State?

There are five factors that need to happen in order to achieve flow:

1. The activity needs to be intrinsically rewarding. It’s harder to induce flow when you’re doing a task that you have to do rather than something you want to do. This has a lot to do with our motivation as it relates to the activity.

2. There must be clear goals and a sense of progress. When a goal is clearly outlined, we’re able to embrace the methods we use to get to the finish line. It’s easier to own (and be proud) of our process, which leads to more confidence.

3. There must be clear and immediate feedback. We need to know what you’re doing, how to get to the goal, and where you’re going. The feedback that you get during and after your process — and the timing in which it happens — is crucial to improving and achieving greater levels of flow the next time you’re in the zone.

4. The challenge must match perceived skills (as outlined in the Experience Fluctuation Model). The ideal state of flow exists when the challenge and the skill level are a match.

5. There needs to be intense focus on the present moment. We can induce flow when we are free of external, and internal, distractions

When all these characteristics have been met, you’ll have an easier time achieving flow. You’ll know when you’re in this blissful state when you have feelings of serenity and no sense of time passing during this time of intense concentration.

Inducing a state of flow can be a surprising dichotomy when you take a step back and reflect on how you felt when you were in this type of mind space:

• Time stood still, but at the same time, it seemed to fly by.
• Felt effortless even though the activity was considered to be a challenge.
• The task itself was intense, yet you were relaxed.
• You’re more present than ever, but you’ve lost yourself (and sometimes where you were) while completing the task.

What Are The Benefits When You Induce Flow State?

There are a number of benefits when you enter the flow state including higher productivity, which is something we all strive to accomplish, but let’s dive deeper than this. Here are more of the meaningful advantages of inducing flow state:

• You engage in meaningful work. According to Csikszentmihalyi’s Ted Talk, when people are in flow, they’re more likely to enjoy their work, which leads to greater feelings of satisfaction and fulfillment.
• Your hyperfocus results in an optimal experience. Because of this state of intense concentration, you’re able to complete the task with a high-quality result within your particular zone of genius.
• You achieve success while tuning out all the noise. In a 2010 Harvard study, research showed that the average human mind wanders about 47% of the time. Combine this with our age of increased external distractions such as social media, streaming, news outlets, and notifications, we’re continuously more distracted throughout the day. By inducing flow state, you can shut out all the disruptions that get in the way of your success.
• You can be expansive with your creativity. Your mind can operate at a higher level, completely free of internal and external distractions. Intrusive thoughts that normally threaten your confidence and ability to complete the task will be nowhere to be found. This type of optimal performance enables you to think freely and without boundaries.
• You experience greater happiness. According to Frontier Psychology, an optimal experience of flow is likely related to “place identity” – the identity a person associates with oneself based on feelings of belongingness in their place of preference and the self-identifying activities they participate in. The more they are able to use their skills alongside higher challenges and engage in fulfilling work within their community, the happier they’ll be.
• You hone and enhance your skill set. In flow state, you can test your existing skill sets and unconsciously elevate them as you proceed through the challenge. A high level of skill and challenge must be equal in order to induce flow, so this eventually leads to continuous growth as you seek harder challenges.
• You develop more motivation. Your quality of satisfaction with the work, the process in how you arrived at the intended outcome, and how meaningful it is to you are directly related to your motivation to continue growing and improving. Because flow state can create a positive mindset, the more motivated you’ll be overall.
• You create emotional regulation. There’s a certain level of control associated with flow. As individuals continue to hone their skills in flow state, the more likely they’ll be able to develop the skills to regulate their emotions as well.

How to Induce Flow State

Now that we understand what Flow State is, how it works, and why it’s beneficial, it’s time to learn what you can do to induce Flow State, allowing an opportunity for your mind and body to be perfectly synchronized.

• Take care of yourself. You can more easily reach Flow State when you’re feeling more rested, which also means you’re less anxious. It’s best to be as relaxed as possible so you can function at your best when it comes time to work. Creating routines that are centered around your physical and emotional wellbeing can be a huge factor in inducing flow. For example, if a morning routine contains a trip to the gym, this may alleviate some of the pains you’ve been feeling and help you feel more energized. Also, if you have an exercise that you regularly do to calm your mind or practice daily meditations, this can relieve your anxiety. All of these simple steps that you likely already have in your routine can set you up to be in the right headspace.
• Choose the right tasks. Remember, it’s easier to induce flow when you’re doing something you love, rather than out of obligation. If you don’t find the activity particularly satisfying or meaningful, you might not be able to achieve the flow state. But it’s almost impossible to enjoy every piece of an activity. There’s bound to be something that seems mundane — something that doesn’t really inspire you. If you find yourself constantly bored of a task, it could be that the challenge is not high enough to keep your attention. In this case, it might be time to prioritize your tasks based on importance and meaning.
• Find an optimal working space. The working environment that we’re in can greatly influence our productivity and concentration. According to a study done by Princeton University, negative clutter can affect our ability to process information. It can make you feel more stressed, lessen creative thinking, and overload your senses, all of which are not conducive to inducing Flow State. It’s best to optimize your space or listen to music or soothing sounds, so it frees you up to concentrate and think creatively. A helpful tip in optimizing your workspace is to identify the distractions that hijack your focus.
• Practice. Flow state can’t be achieved if you’re just starting to learn a skill. When we refer back to the Experience Fluctuation Model, the higher your skill level (and the higher the challenge), the more likely you are to induce flow. The lower our skill, but the higher the challenge, will also result in more anxiety and fear. So before we try to induce flow, we need to practice and develop our skills.
• Repetition. Once we’ve learned the skill, it’s time to repeat it until we’ve achieved some level of competence or mastery. Let’s take writing a book as an example. If it’s an author’s first time writing a book, there will likely be some element of learning how to structure a plotline, develop characters, and build a compelling resolution. It’ll take some time for the author to practice new skills to rise to the higher challenge of mastering novel writing. Flow can then be achieved after repetition of these skills in practice (and after continuous feedback and editing in the revision process).
• Find a feedback system. One of the hallmark characteristics of inducing flow is receiving immediate feedback. It keeps your progress on track and alerts you if anything isn’t working in your process. For example, if you’re writing a paper, you need to be able to have someone in your corner to provide feedback — whether it would be good or bad — on the work and in a timely manner. Going too long without effective feedback can prevent your growth as you may not be aware that something may not be working to its potential.
• Identify a mindfulness technique. Even if you’re not a big believer in meditation or other mindfulness practices, it could be beneficial to learn one or two breathing exercises that are able to calm you down. It’s hard to keep your concentration when you’re feeling a heightened sense of anxiety or panic. Breathing techniques can help you calm down and relax instead of remaining in a state of increasing stress.

Getting Into The Flow

Inducing flow state can help cultivate a healthier mindset, which leads to higher productivity, greater satisfaction, and more happiness. Initially, this state of complete focus and heightened creativity seems to be more suited for those pursuing the arts or those in athletics, but it’s completely accessible to everyone no matter what field they’re in.

So long as you identify an activity you love, practice and refine your skills, and have an appropriate level of challenge, you’re taking the first steps in achieving flow. It isn’t easy, and it may cause you to explore other opportunities if you no longer feel inspired, but it’s well worth the reward.

 

You need a graphic designer for just about everything. Branding, marketing, and communications all need designs to connect with customers. Depending on the size and scope of your projects, you may need new designs made regularly so it’s crucial to know how to find great designers.

A graphic designer needs to understand your brand strategy and visual identity. Hiring the wrong person for the job could mean lost sales and that’s no good for anyone.

The first impressions customers will have of your business come from things like the logo, a business card, your website, or a landing page. Designs need to be something memorable like the golden arches which feature on the front of every McDonald’s or Amazon’s simple yet effective A-Z logo. We remember them because an excellent graphic designer did their job well.

Choosing the right person can feel like a daunting task. There are a lot of graphic designers available for hire so how do you find a diamond in the rough? If you know what your project specifications are you can help narrow down your options. Let’s take a look at how to create a great project brief.

How to Create A Project Brief

Whoever you pick for your graphic design needs is going to be grateful for a clear project brief. Some marketplaces will help you to create your brief as you go through the hiring process, but not all.

The key is to give your desired designer a clear and concise brief so they can get to work quickly. Unless you have very specific instructions, it’s good to be flexible and allow your designer creative freedom.

You’ll get your designs back quicker and everyone will be happy. When you’re bringing in someone new try to negotiate a few revisions into the contract. Hopefully, they’ll nail the design in one go but revisions are a great safety net.

Here are some things to include when creating your brief:

Scope: Are you looking for someone to help create ideas or do you know what you want? It’s okay if you don’t have a clear idea in your mind’s eye – your graphic designer can help with this. Expect to pay more in these instances as the work will likely take longer and need more revisions.

Inspiration: If there are any images that you like or you’re looking to compete with, let your designer know. This could be colorways, content, or finish style. It helps your designer to get inside your head a little and have a clearer idea of your expectations.

Brand information: Let your designer know about your brand so their creations can be in line with the visual identity. Continuity across your business helps to build brand awareness.

Budget: Be upfront about your budget expectations. Allow freelancers the option to opt-out if the price doesn’t meet their rates. This will save both the recruiter and the designer precious time with negotiations.

Timeline: Do you need the work done by a certain date? Let your designer know about any time constraints you have. Whether it’s a week, a month, or it’s flexible, it’s valuable information for your graphic designer.

Now you know how to create the perfect brief it’s time to look for a graphic designer. Below are some of the best graphic designer websites available. You’ll find millions of freelancers for hire.

Graphic Designer Websites for Every Occasion

There are a lot of different websites you can use to find incredible graphic designers. Many designers can be found on freelance job boards you may already be familiar with. Alternatively, you can look at dedicated designer websites and independent portfolios.

Always look through someone’s portfolio before making any hiring decisions. Depending on which platform you use, you may need to request applicants send portfolio pieces as part of their pitch. Make sure you’ve got a good idea of the quality of someone’s work before you hire anyone.

Generic Job Boards

Upwork

Upwork is the largest freelance marketplace on the web and there are thousands of graphic designers on its books. Due to its size, the talent levels range from low-quality to high-quality. Unqualified freelancers will apply to your job posting which can be time-consuming to sort through. One benefit of Upwork is that you’ll definitely be able to find someone to suit your budget.

How to hire a graphic designer on Upwork

There are two ways to hire a graphic designer on Upwork: post a job or browse the Project Catalog. If you post a job, Upwork has created an easy workflow to create your listing. You can select the specific skills you want (in this case graphic design, illustration, logo design, etc).

Once you’ve set the skills, location, experience, and budget you can add the job description. Add as many details as you feel are necessary to give freelancers a clear idea of what you are looking for.

The other option is Project Catalog which is where freelancers offer pre-packaged deals. The freelancer sets the parameters for the job and you can select the one that suits your needs best. Browsing Project Catalog is a great way to view portfolios before reaching out to your preferred freelancer.

PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour is another massive marketplace to find freelancers in a variety of disciplines. Plenty of graphic designers are available through this platform which makes it a great choice for businesses to find someone. PeoplePerHour is more popular in Europe; however, it offers its services worldwide.

How to hire a graphic designer on PeoplePerHour

Like Upwork, there are two ways you can find a freelancer to work on your projects. The first is to post a job listing and freelancers can pitch to you. Or you can browse the offers section to find pre-packaged deals.

The workflow for posting a job on PeoplePerHour is simple and compact. After you select what skills and disciplines you’re looking for you can add in the project description and attach any helpful documents. They also let you know how projects should be priced to attract their top freelancers.

Offers from available freelancers might be a better option because you will be able to look at people’s portfolios. This gives you a good idea of a freelancer’s skills and you can choose the right person for your project.

Freelancer.com

Freelancer.com allows you to post a job listing which freelancers can respond to. It works just like Upwork and PeoplePerHour for these types of jobs. The main difference is that Freelancer.com has is the ability to host contests. Contests allow you to get multiple entries before choosing a winner.

How to hire a graphic designer on Freelancer.com

When you want to post a job or contest on Freelancer.com they will ask for a post title and description. You can add documents with instructions or inspirations if that’s necessary. Once you have added these details the skills section will be auto-filled but you can add and remove skills.

Job listings and contests are created using the same workflow. There are a variety of extras you can buy which can help to attract people to your job but they’re not necessary.

Guru

Guru is a freelance marketplace that has over 200,000 graphic designers on its books. You post a job on the platform and freelancers will pitch proposals to you. Guru has a built-in portfolio that freelancers can add to their profile page. Be sure to check over portfolios before making any hiring decisions.

How to hire a graphic designer on Guru

Creating a job post on Guru is simple. Click the ‘post a job’ badge at the top of the page and fill out the information. It’s the usual stuff, title, description, skills, and budget. Freelancers will then send quotes for their services and you can select the best one.

You can also request quotes directly from freelancers via their profile page. If there’s a particular freelancer you want to work with this is a great way to get their attention.

Fiverr

Fiverr is an online marketplace where freelancers can post gigs for set prices with optional extras. The site gets its name from the minimum gig price which is $5. Thousands of graphic designers are available on Fiverr with gigs priced for all budgets. Their most skilled freelancers can be identified with the Pro Verified watermark.

Clients can review a freelancer’s work and the reviews are freely available to view on their profile page. This is a great way to ensure your chosen freelancer can deliver quality work.

How to hire a graphic designer on Fiverr

Either search for the skills you’re looking for or use the navigation bar at the top of the page. Fiverr will list all the available freelancers; it’s worth taking your time to look through them to find the perfect person. There is even the option to hire someone on a subscription basis if you have ongoing work.

Once you have found the right designer for your project you can either message them first or go ahead and purchase the gig. Select any relevant extras – make sure you’re getting a high-quality file and consider asking for the source file too in case you want to make edits in-house. Fill out the information your freelancer has requested and wait for a response.

Dedicated Job Boards

Behance

Behance is a website owned and operated by Adobe, the company behind Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects. Many graphic designers use Adobe products to create their designs. Freelancers can upload their work to Behance which doubles as a portfolio website and job board.

How to hire a graphic designer on Behance

Recruiters can post a job to Behance and freelancers will be able to apply for open positions. Behance will also recommend potential candidates and you’ll have the option to shortlist at the time of posting.

You can choose to have designers apply through Behance or redirect them to your third-party website. All you need to do is fill out the skills you’re looking for, a job listing title, and the job description. There are options to list the job as a full-time, internship, or freelance opportunity. You should receive an average of 150 applicants per job posting.

99Designs

99Designs is a popular website for finding graphic designers. They have entry-level, mid-level, and top-level freelancers on their books. The prices for designs on 99Designs start in the hundreds so this isn’t the best website for finding a bargain. However, if you have the right budget, the designers on this website have all been quality-assured.

How to hire a graphic designer on 99Designes

You can hire through profile pages or post a contest and receive multiple submissions. If you decide to hire directly you can browse profiles for their portfolio and price list. Once you have found someone you like, message them or request a quote. It is possible to negotiate prices with certain freelancers.

Contests work differently but they can be beneficial if you want to see extra design choices. The best part about hosting a contest is the money-back guarantee in case there are no clear winners. 99Designs suggests that higher contest prizes will lead to more submissions so consider how much you can afford to spend.

Boonle

If you’re looking to hire someone on a budget then Boonle could be the best platform for you. All the designers on this website are students currently studying their profession. It’s a great way to support freelancers in the early stages of their careers. Who knows, you might even find the next Andy Warhol.

How to hire a graphic designer on Boonle

You will need to fill out some information about the job including the expected results. Boonle lets you post your job for free and your clients can set their own price. You then wait for students to apply or search through portfolios and invite the ones you like to your project.

Design Hill

Design Hill has facilitated over 5 million designs. They have a variety of ways to find the perfect design at budgets of any size. Over 150,000 graphic designers have signed up for the website and their sister company Print Shop can help with any merchandising needs.

How to hire a graphic designer on Design Hill

Finding a graphic designer on Design Hill has been made really simple. There are three ways you can connect with freelancers to get your designs brought to life. The first method is to host a contest that has the added benefit of receiving multiple submissions. Design Hill offers a money-back guarantee if you aren’t happy with the submissions for any reason.

Alternatively, you can search for pre-packaged deals and hire services directly from graphic designers. Services will have set prices and it’s worth checking what’s including such as the number of revisions. The last method to hire someone on Design Hill is to message them and create a one-to-one project.

Dribbble

Dribble is a subscription service. They claim to have over 1 million designers on their books. Some of the world’s leading companies are clients and they post full-time or freelance opportunities. The website doubles as a learning platform and they host workshops to help their freelancers continually hone and improve their craft.

How to hire graphic designers on Dribbble

You need to pay a monthly or quarterly subscription fee to access most of the site’s functionality. It costs $299 a month for access to the job board and $299 a month if you would prefer the designer search. A combined subscription will set you back $499 per month.

The job board lets you post job listings that freelancers can browse and apply for. The average job listing attracts 1100 viewers. If you prefer to browse profile pages then the designer search is a better choice. This will let you contact designers directly and hire the right person.

Independent Portfolios

Not every graphic designer lists their services on the job boards mentioned here. Some of them are only available via their own portfolio websites. If you’re struggling to find the right person try opening up the search by using Google.

Perhaps you want to hire someone in your city so they’re guaranteed to be working to your timezone, or you can have a meeting with them. Try searching for “graphic designer” + “your city” to narrow down the search. If you’ve seen some designs from a competitor you like but you’re not sure who the designer is try searching “company name” + “graphic designer.”

To take the pressure out of searching for independent portfolios, here are some incredible designers open for commissions.

Oddone

Do you want to hire the person who helped to create assets for Google? Oddone is the studio name for San Francisco-based designer Roger Oddone. He has helped tech companies like Uber and Google to create branded assets.

His work includes the iconic Uber logo that sits on every mobile phone. Oddone studio is a great option for businesses looking to establish their visual identity or create a brand strategy.

Hicks Design

If you surf the web chances are you’ve spotted more than one of the fantastic logos designed by Jon and Leigh Hicks of Hicks Design. They’re the creative force behind the logo for the third most popular internet browser Firefox.

Popular web tools such as Shopify, MailChimp, and DuckDuckGo have commissioned designs from Hicks. It’s safe to say if you’re looking for a quality logo, you should consider this studio.

Duoh!

Duoh! has been in business since 2000 and since then they’ve created an impressive portfolio of work. The studio can help with all manner of graphic design needs from logos to UX/UI design.

If you have a large project then you might want to hire a studio trained in multiple disciplines. Duoh! can help to establish your web presence by offering logo and website design packages.

The Two Sarahs

Named after its two co-founders Sarah and Sarah, The Two Sarah’s is a design studio passionate about print. Although your digital identity is vitally important now, print work gives you something tangible to share with your customers.

Whatever you need, the Two Sarahs can do. Business cards, leaflets, menus, letterheads, and much more. They can even help with logo design and digital assets to help shape the visual identity of your brand.

Bonus Websites

Canva

Don’t have the budget to outsource your graphic design needs? No problem. Canva could be the right option for you. It’s a browser-based photo editing software. It has a free and paid tiers but most of the functions you’ll need come for free.

It’s not as advanced as something like Photoshop but if you have simple needs Canva is more than capable of the job. There are hundreds of templates available that you can use as they come or edit them to suit.

Canva is a great option to save money on a professional. It’s easy to use and the templates are gorgeous. Creating eye-catching graphics is possible even for those who’ve never designed anything before. If hiring a professional is out of budget at the moment you can still create what you need!

Penji.co

If you need unlimited web designs for a flat rate, Penji should be one of your top choices! Over thousands of businesses entrust Penji with their graphic and web design work. They are ideal if you have a high volume of designs monthly. Moreover, they can help you with over 120+ web and graphic design requests.

Alternatively, Penji also offers “Penji Express.” It’s their marketplace option, allowing you to request logos, custom illustrations, brochures, landing pages, and more! With this in mind, Penji can help you kickstart your business at an affordable rate without compromising the quality! Penji provides tips on how to hire artists online, click here.

We all know how hard it is to run an engaging meeting. To many of us, this seems like a strenuous task. Where do you even start?

Do you have to behave differently? And what about your colleagues that are on the shyer side—how do you motivate them to participate?

Fortunately, we have an answer. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the 15 things managers and facilitators should do, in order to host captivating meetings and encourage their colleagues to make meaningful contributions.

Let’s dive right in, shall we?

Why you should host engaging online meetings

Meetings are a crucial part of every organization. It allows people within a company to gather and exchange valuable ideas as well as make informed decisions that will help a business grow.

However, in order for meetings to deliver value to both employees and the organization, they have to be engaging—people need to care about the subject matter and be motivated to provide their input.

On the surface, coming up with a strategy to boost meeting engagement may seem like unrewarding investment that will distract stakeholders from “real problems.” In reality, there’s a host of reasons why companies should look into it:

• It builds stronger relationships – when people actively participate in meetings, they become invested in the company’s success as well as their own professional growth;
• It facilitates and improves decision-making – shorter, more efficient meetings don’t last enough to become dull. The more involved the participants of a meeting are in the conversation, the quicker clever solutions arise;
• It helps companies think outside the box – when there are no bystanders in you meetings, there is greater diversity of opinion, which opens your business up to more innovative ideas;
• It acts as a medium for constant improvement – when engaging meetings become a part of the company culture, everybody wins. The organization reaps the benefits of clever and innovative decisions, while employees can learn from one another and grow professionally;

1. Prepare an agenda for your meeting

To ensure that people have something to say in a meeting, it’s essential to at least tell them what the meeting is about. Even better, provide them with a clear outline that will allow them to navigate it more efficiently. Not understanding the scope and structure of the meeting is a recipe for discomfort and awkwardness—and that’s exactly what we want to avoid.

Always make sure to attach the meeting agenda to your invitation. This small detail will have a massive impact on the team’s productivity by allowing them to structure their thoughts and provide their input on the subject matter.

If you’re looking to earn some bonus points and help people be more proactive by having an agenda, there are two things you should also look into:

1. Stick to the plan – sending out an agenda and not following the timetable will just defeat the purpose helping people participate;

2. Ask for feedback – allow people to weigh in on how well the meeting was structured and whether they’d like to suggest changes to further meetings;

There are so many questions you can ask to learn more about the people’s preferences. Simply asking for their input will not only provide you with a roadmap for the betterment of your next meetings, but also make them feel heard and included. Here are a few examples:

• Did you find our last meeting productive?
• What part of the meeting do you think was most valuable to you?
• What was your favorite/least favorite part?
• If you could change anything, what would it be? Why?
• What’s one thing that could increase your satisfaction with our meetings? Why?

2. Essential personnel only

Oh, just one more thing before you send out the memo for the meeting, please consider the attendees carefully. Your efforts to keep participants engaged will be rendered useless if you’ll invite people that have little to do with the issue at hand.

Yes, absolutely, this does sound self-evident, but the participant lists should be as short as possible. Every single person that has but a remote connection to the topic at hand will inevitably be bored (which is the opposite of what you want).

If, for any reason, you’re wondering what the optimal number of participants in a meeting is, consider using the “two-pizza rule.” Legend has it that Jeff Bezos would follow this principle to make meetings more productive. Basically, if the number of people you’ve invited to a meeting can’t be fed with two pizzas, it’s very likely that no important decisions will be made.

3. Proactivity builds on safety

Most people will only want to be proactive in a meeting if they feel safe. Of course, this has little to do with physical safety, instead it’s a sense of acceptance—the need to know that their ideas will be taken seriously.

If you happen to be the facilitator of a meeting, consider starting by making people comfortable. Kick things off with some positive feedback on the team’s work. Even better, show some appreciation to every person in particular if there aren’t too many people attending. This should make the participants feel confident and excited about the meeting.

The power of this tactic is twofold; Firstly, it makes everyone feel accomplished and valued. Secondly, it encourages a team mentality right off the bat. Focusing on individual successes and qualities is a great way to build momentum.

4. Be mindful of the Bystander Effect

There’s a very interesting psychological study on a phenomenon called the Bystander Effect, also known as “diffusion of responsibility”. It suggests that there’s a direct correlation between the number of people in an environment and their motivation to intervene when someone has an emergency like a heart attack, for instance.

The logic behind it is pretty straightforward, the more people there are in an environment, the more diffused the responsibility is. People are prone to this effect during meetings as well.

The great part is that it’s fairly simple to overcome this effect—assign the participants tasks that they can engage in actively. This way, they won’t be inclined to be a mere bystander in the meeting you’re facilitating. Most video conferencing products have a breakout room feature; you can use it to assign small tasks to groups of people that are part of the meeting.

5. The 5-minute rule

Let’s face it—most of us have dozed off during lengthy meetings that keep going over and over the same issues. Make no mistake, people will naturally prefer watching paint dry to participating in boring meetings. Fortunately, the solution to boredom is engagement. People generally prefer to be productive, instead of attending a mind-numbing group call.

When planning your meeting agenda, try to keep it as engaging as possible. Try spending a maximum of five minutes on every issue that needs to be addressed. Otherwise, your colleagues might put on their bystander hat—and they’ll do it quicker than you expect. The worst part about it is that it’s not really that easy to bring them back, so be strategic about your meeting agenda.

6. Say my name, say my name 🎤

You’ve probably heard about the magical effects calling someone’s name has on their brain. Well, we’re here to tell you that it’s true and that you should do it more, if you want to keep people participating during meetings.

Research suggests that when people hear their names, specific parts of their brain that stimulate attention activate. People become naturally more focused and mindful as a result.

There are plenty of ways this little trick can be put to work. Instead of just asking people “any questions?,” consider calling them by their name. This will most likely make the shyer people in the crowd actually ask the question they have. Moreover, there’s a sort of chain reaction to this—people will see others participating and feel a slight push to do the same.

7. Does everyone know everyone?

Often people don’t feel comfortable sharing their opinions with people they don’t know. Therefore, when the participants of a meeting are not acquainted, this could have a harmful effect on the overall engagement.

It’s always a good idea to introduce people to each other—their names, their roles, and maybe a quick mention of their qualities. Of course, this isn’t essential if your list is extensive. But doing so whenever you can afford it will help people relax and open up.

8. Incorporate small talk

Before the Covid pandemic struck, small talk was an effortless thing. For some reason, it’s much easier to be curious about people’s experiences in their immediate presence, compared to video meetings.

If you think about it, the entire experience of a Zoom call isn’t exactly conducive to a warm exchange—a window pops up on your screen and you’re expected to go straight to the point. As a result, the whole concept of chatting with your colleagues while grabbing coffee before a meeting has vanished entirely, along with the benefits of such interactions.

Fortunately, there are a couple of quick tips that will help you bring the small talk back to your remote meetings.

• Make small talk part of your meeting agenda – by allotting time to it, you won’t be pressured to jump into work-related discussions from the get-go;
• Start every meeting with a check-in or an ice-breaker – show your willingness to engage in small talk as the person whose task it is to moderate the meeting. This should help people relax and engage effortlessly;
• Include conversation points that most people have an opinion on – whether this is tightly connected to the main topic of the meeting doesn’t matter that much. Having a conversation about things that people care about will help them express their opinion more eagerly, which will set the tone for the meeting itself;

9. The responsibility rule

Whenever people enter a social setting, they unconsciously try to determine the role they play in it. For instance, when you attend a concert (it’s been a while, hasn’t it?), you immediately establish your role at this event—you’re there to observe and enjoy. In other settings, your role is to act.

Meetings are no exception—we always try to define whether we’re there to act or observe, and we typically make this decision in the moment we’re notified about the meeting itself. Naturally, most of us will be inclined to be bystanders, but this is exactly what ends up being the cause of low engagement during meetings.

Fortunately, facilitators can solve this issue by creating a sense of shared responsibility. Have everyone prepare for the call—this doesn’t have to be a massive effort, but the time investment itself will help them stay engaged and participate eagerly.

10. Reduce your slides to the bare minimum

We’ve all been there—having to sit through a dull, hour-long presentation that bores us to tears. While they are undoubtedly necessary in situations like onboarding your team to some important changes in the company or product, there are a few recommendations a facilitator should take into account, in order to keep the audience engaged.

One crucial thing you should consider is reducing the number of slides to the bare minimum. Similarly, consider adding as little information on the slides as you can afford to. The reason is pretty simple—the less people have to read, the more you can engage with them on a personal level.

Moreover, people love storytelling—it’s a very powerful tool to keep people invested in what you have to tell them. This is going to be crucial if you’re going to be looking for meaningful feedback at the end of your presentation. Instead of just wanting to leave the room as early as they can, your colleagues will be more inclined to share their thoughts.

While adding elements of storytelling to your presentation is always a good idea, definitely consider structuring your entire meeting agenda as a coherent storyline. In narratology (yes, this is a thing), there’s this very useful concept called the “hero’s journey”. It’s sort of a template for a story where a hero goes on an adventure, faces some sort of existential crisis, and returns home transformed and a bit wiser than he or she was at the beginning of their journey. You don’t have to be as dramatic with your meeting agenda, but you get the drill.

Here’s a basic structure for a hero’s journey: Departure (the call to adventure), Initiation (a series of trials that the person confronts), the Return (the hero returns from her adventure).

11. Build a great online meeting tools stack

Making your virtual meetings more engaging also depends on the tech stack you’re using. Your organization may be using products like Slack or Zoom for communication, and project management tools to go with them, but you have the opportunity to think outside the box. There are plenty of collaborative tools like Miro that will help your team work together and engage in brainstorming synchronously.

It’s absolutely essential to take the time to explore the available solutions on the market that will help your team collaborate efficiently and remain tuned in during meetings.

12. Look into gamification

Simply put, gamification is the process of using game elements and mechanics in mundane activities with the intent to make them more engaging and even entertaining. The technique revolves around providing people with instant gratification, rewarding them for small tasks, and continuously providing them with feedback.

The reason gamification is very effective in engaging people is because of the small bursts of dopamine it triggers in our brains. As a result, the things we typically find boring or dull end up being entertaining, which helps us become more involved and productive. Furthermore, gamification is known to ease cognitive load.

So, how does one gamify a meeting? There are plenty of techniques you can choose from. For instance, you can end a meeting in a quiz and reward the participants for their attention. Another option would be tallying the number of innovative solutions your colleagues came up with during meetings in a month. This should stimulate some healthy competition among coworkers.

13. The five hippopotamus rule

The five hippopotamus Rule is a very straightforward technique that can help you motivate people to actively participate in the conversation. Now, before we go on, we need to underline that this is also a common technique used in criminal psychology during interrogations, which is called “the Pause Technique.” The main idea behind it is to remain silent after asking a question, suggesting to the interviewee that you’re expecting an answer from them.

So, back to the hippopotamus rule. The main idea behind it is not to interrogate your colleagues (really, don’t), but rather to motivate them to engage with the conversation.

How do you do it? Ask a question, and if you see no immediate engagement from your colleagues, count “one hippopotamus, two hippopotamus,” till you get to five. Another pretty important tip is to not count out loud.

14. Acknowledge contributions

While showing appreciation for your colleagues’ contributions will have a positive impact on the engagement within the meeting, it’s also more of an investment for future meetings. Being thankful about people expressing their opinion on the subject matter and, more importantly, taking their opinions seriously will create a space where people feel inclined towards participating.

Expressing appreciation for a person’s contribution is a great way to encourage more engagement—at the end of the day, they’ve made an effort to help the cause of this meeting.

Another great way to show appreciation is visible note taking—this allows you to acknowledge a person’s contribution and show that their voice is heard.

15. What do you do with engagement?

Our last tip is an extension of the previous one—it’s an attempt to take a closer look at engagement in the context of your organization. What’s the point of stimulating people to participate if they won’t see their input applied or their opinions taken into account when critical decisions are made. Using what you receive during meetings is a vital component of creating an environment where people want to participate.

The bottom line

Keeping people engaged during meetings does sound like a straightforward task, but in reality it’s far from it. The good thing is that the vast majority of steps you can make towards a more proactive crowd only require your dedication and willingness.