10 Activities Under 15 Minutes to Break Up Your Next Meeting
10 Activities Under 15 Minutes to
Break Up Your Next Meeting
May 30, 2024
By Alyson Morgan and Isabel Jimenez
Meetings can be extremely valuable and educational experiences for attendees, but they can also feel long and content-heavy. Here are our top 10 activities that are under 15 minutes to break up your next meeting and keep guests engaged.
1. Guided Meditation Session
A simple and fast way to reduce stress, meditation sessions are great for long meetings. Let your mind rest and thoughts clear before taking on the remainder of the meeting. A trained professional will join the group for a few minutes to focus on relaxation and calming the mind. After several moments of peace and breathing, the body will find a balance, resulting in greater emotional well-being and overall health benefits.
2. Gratitude Cards
What are you grateful for? Have guests write down (3-5) things they are grateful for as an exercise in positivity. Set a timer for guests to gather their thoughts and write them down. Once finished, allow time for anyone who would like to share their thoughts with the rest of the group. Take this activity to the next level by including it in a break area as an at-will activity. Encourage guests to write down their nuggets of gratitude and add them to a wall in the space. Watch the gratitude grow over the day(s) of the meeting!
3. Hotel Scavenger Hunt
If you are looking for something more active, send guests on a hunt to find their coffee break or next session materials. Provide your guests with a list of clues and set a timer. Guests will have 10 minutes to wander the venue searching for a certain space or items. Each group will need to provide photographic proof that they completed the task, making sure at least one individual from the group is in the photo. The first group back to the meeting room wins!
4. Speed Networking
Introduce yourself to someone new and get to know them before the clock runs out. Guests will be encouraged to pick a partner and discuss a topic for 2 minutes. Once the timer is up, partners will swap, and a new topic will be chosen. Repeat the exercise for as many rounds as time allows. Guests will return to the meeting knowing their colleagues a little better!
5. Silent Disco
Get guests up and moving without disrupting the neighbors! A silent disco is a great way to get everyone’s blood flowing after a full day of sitting down. Headphones are supplied with multiple channels and music options so individuals can decide what they would like to listen to. Attendees might find they have a similar (or polar opposite!) music taste as the person dancing next to them. Take a moment to free your mind and loosen your body by dancing to some great music.
6. Caring Canines
Animals are a natural mood booster! Encourage both mental health and well-being with therapy led by puppies. Puppies are known to improve physical and mental health, as well as providing comfort and easing anxiety levels. Pause your meeting, welcome (2-3) therapy dogs into your session, and watch the stress levels fade away. You can also add a CSR element by bringing in adoptable furry friends to support a local animal shelter.
7. Essential Oil Kits
Essential Oil Kits are a great add-on to a hospitality suite or as an activation during breaks and meals. Build a custom aromatherapy roll-on bottle to keep stress levels low throughout your meeting. A professional on-site will help guests build their blend of essential oils, targeting specific needs such as stress relief, sleep aid, or energy boost. The best part is that guests will continue to enjoy this takeaway after the meeting. Consider branding the essential oil bottles as a reminder of the meeting whenever guests use their custom blend.
8. Apple, Orange, Banana
This activity will get your attendees moving and may even break them out in laughter! Start by placing groups of attendees in a circle, all facing to one side, then instruct them to place their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them. Designate an action for each fruit, for example, apple = spin in a circle, orange = step forward, banana = step backward. You can replace the fruit names with words that align with the meeting theme or organization. Start slowly by calling out one action at a time, then pick up the pace, stringing the actions together into more complicated sequences, and watch everyone try to keep up! This silly activity will not only allow your guests an opportunity to get moving but will foster relationships by allowing attendees to interact in a fun and lighthearted way.
9. Name That Tune!
A tried-and-true game, Name That Tune offers a glimpse into attendee personalities while also encouraging friendly competition. Split your group into small teams, where each team will create a playlist of their favorite songs. Next, teams will go head-to-head! Team 1 will start playing a song from their playlist, and Team 2 must guess the song. Each time a team guesses correctly, they get a point. You can also award bonus points for extra details such as artist or album title. As winning teams begin to emerge, the groups will rotate, and at the end of the given time, the team with the most points wins!
10. Rock, Paper, Scissors EXTREME
All guests in the room will likely be familiar with this classic game, so why not reinvent it to be a fun icebreaker and add a competitive element? Start by having each attendee turn to a partner near them for a quick one-round game of rock, paper, scissors. The winner will then turn to face a nearby winner of another game. As the games progress, the competition will grow more intense, with guests vying for one of the final two spots. Once competitors are down to the last pair, invite them on stage so that everyone has a view of the game. This quick activity will be sure to generate excitement while allowing everyone to feel involved in the action.
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