Lean Coffee meetings

Lean Coffee meetings help create clarity of purpose in your meetings, boosting productivity and focus.

Previously, I’ve talked about how meetings should enhance your productivity, not impede it. And I gave a few suggestions that might help to think differently about the need for meetings in the first place.

But let’s say the meeting is unavoidable. After all, meetings are a necessary part of collaboration, but when they devolve into meandering conversations, unfocused agendas, and a lingering sense of time stolen, it can be hard not to resent them.

So, when you have to have a meeting, you might want to consider having a Lean Coffee meeting.

The Lean Coffee method offers a meeting alternative that’s designed to combat meeting bloat and instil clarity of purpose. To start, there’s no fixed agenda; instead, participants take ownership of the meeting flow – brainstorming topics, prioritising them democratically, and engaging in focused discussion within allocated time slots. This approach minimises tangential debates and fosters a shared sense of investment in the agenda and outcomes.

The “coffee” in the method suggests an informal, casual meeting (such as those that take place in coffee shops).

Lean Coffee benefits:

  • Enhanced engagement due to participant-driven agenda.
  • Improved decision-making as the most compelling issues are prioritised.
  • Efficiency gains through time-boxed discussions and democratic topic selection.

Practical considerations for academics wanting to try Lean Coffee:

  • Provide guidance on tools (use sticky notes, timers, basic personal Kanban board).
  • Suggest an initial trial run in a low-stakes team meeting.
  • Make recommendations for facilitating collaborative voting and discussion. 

Next steps

  • Consider implementing the Lean Coffee method in one of your upcoming (low-stakes) meetings.

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