What Is Meeting Design?
Why smart planning beats just “running a meeting”
Meetings are happening everyday. But are they working?
From Monday stand-ups to high-stakes strategy sessions, meetings eat up a lot of our time. In fact, research shows that professionals spend up to 35% of their week in meetings—and yet, 67% say those meetings are unproductive.
So here’s the big question: What if meetings could be designed to actually drive progress?
That’s where Meeting Design comes in.
So, what exactly is Meeting Design?
Meeting Design is the practice of planning a meeting’s purpose, flow, tools, and interactions in service of better outcomes. It’s a human-centric approach that looks beyond the agenda to shape every moment of the experience.
It’s not about making meetings prettier. It’s about making them work.
We’re talking:
Clarity of why the meeting exists
Intentional decisions about who needs to be in the room
Smart sequencing of what happens when
Tools and spaces that support participation
In short, Meeting Design turns a passive agenda into an active journey.
What makes Meeting Design different?
Most meetings are thrown together: date, time, invite list, bullet points. Maybe a slide deck. The result? A session that feels rushed, aimless, or worse—like it could’ve been an email.
Meeting Design flips that script.
Rather than asking “what do we need to cover?”, it starts with:
What do we want participants to walk away with?
What conversations are essential?
How will we keep energy and focus high throughout?
This approach is rooted in design thinking, behavioural science, and decades of facilitation expertise. It’s about crafting an experience where people don’t just sit through a meeting—they co-create the result!
Key principles of great Meeting Design
At Orange Gibbon, we design every meeting using the Three Es framework:
Effectiveness – Does this meeting achieve its purpose?
Efficiency – Is it a smart use of resourceseveryone’s time?
Energy – Does it keep people engaged and motivated?
And we do that by:
Designing for outcomes, not just outputs.
Putting participants at the centre, not the presenter.
Creating a flow that moves, not drags.
Choosing formats and tools that support interaction.
Making room for pause, play, and pivot—because great meetings adapt.
Who should care about Meeting Design?
If you convene people to decide, create, or align, Meeting Design is your business. But when the stakes rise—or time and energy run thin—bring in a specialist like Orange Gibbon.
Meeting Design is a game-changer for:
Energise workshops: Fresh techniques that turn “attendance” into real participation.
Unblock projects: Structured flows that surface hard issues fast and end in clear decisions.
Elevate events: Participant journeys that feel purposeful, memorable, on-brand.
Safeguard C-suite time: High-stakes conversations designed for focus, speed, and ROI.
You don’t need to be a designer to design meetings. You just need a mindset—and the right team to work together.
What Meeting Design is not
Let’s clear up a few myths:
❌ It’s not just about having nice slides or using fancy apps.
❌ It’s not a one-size-fits-all method.
❌ It’s not an “extra” task you tack on at the end.
Meeting Design is the core of how you shape interaction and decision-making. When done right, it saves time, boosts clarity, and gets everyone aligned faster.
Why we care (and you should too)
At Orange Gibbon, we believe meetings can be energising, not exhausting. That’s why we champion Serious Fun—bringing together strategic rigour and playful interaction to unlock the best in every room.
Because when meetings work, everything moves faster: strategy, culture, innovation.
Tell us about your meeting:
What kind of meeting or event are you planning—and who's it for?
(e.g. team offsite, leadership retreat, client workshop)What’s the big goal you want this session to achieve?
(e.g. align strategy, unlock creativity, solve a challenge)Why are you exploring Meeting Design for this moment?
(What’s not working—or what could be even better?)
Curious how Meeting Design could transform your next session?
Drop us an email at og@orangegibbon.com with quick answers to these three questions—we’ll take it from there.