Meetingitis

Meetingitis lets participants experience, in fast-forward, classic meeting pitfalls: vagueness, digressions, no decision, screens, grumbling. Participants first play a chaotic meeting with secret roles, then choose antidotes and replay a more useful meeting. The game is for teams, managers, project leads, and facilitators who want to improve practices without top-down lecturing.

Walkthrough

1. 1

   Kickoff

   5 min

   Present the purpose: making meetings useful through experience. Remind participants that roles target behaviors, not people. Form tables of 5 to 8 and announce the two rounds: chaos, then antidotes. “We will first experience a meeting that goes off the rails, then test what helps it produce a clear decision. Play the game, without playing tricks on others.”

   Tip — Do not explain the antidotes too much at the start: the first round should make people feel the need.

2. 2

   Table Setup

   5 min

   Each table chooses an organizer and an observer. Give out an Observer Grid. Distribute secret roles to participants, with at least one Constructive Participant per table. The organizer and observer do not draw a role. “Keep your role secret. Play it enough to be noticeable, but subtly enough to remain credible.”

   Tip — If a table has only 5 people, give 1 constructive role and 2 saboteur roles.

3. 3

   Round 1 Preparation

   2 min

   The table draws 1 Meeting card. The organizer reads the situation and prepares the opening. Participants read their role silently. The observer prepares the grid. “In 2 minutes, the meeting starts. Your objective is to secure the expected decision in 10 minutes.”

   Tip — Keep strict time: a little pressure makes the mechanisms visible.

4. 4

   Chaos Meeting

   10 min

   The organizer facilitates the meeting. Participants play their secret role. The observer notes behaviors and their effects on the decision minute by minute. You circulate without intervening, except if the frame is breached. “Go. You have 10 minutes to decide.”

   Tip — Do not save the meeting too early. Chaos is learning material.

5. 5

   Reveal and Score

   10 min

   The organizer guesses the roles one by one. Participants reveal their card. Count the points. Then ask: decision made? clear? who does what? The observer shares 2 or 3 notable facts. “We are not judging people: we are looking at what each behavior produced for the decision.”

   Tip — Ask for observed examples, not general impressions.

6. 6

   Choose Antidotes

   10 min

   Lay out the 12 Antidote cards. Each table chooses 4 and says which problem it wants to address. Redistribute the roles, again with at least one Constructive Participant. Draw a new Meeting card. “Choose only 4 antidotes. Same duration, new scenario, new roles: what do you really want to test?”

   Tip — Limit to 4 to avoid the perfect but unplayable charter.

7. 7

   Antidoted Meeting

   10 min

   The organizer integrates the 4 antidotes into the opening, then facilitates. Participants play their new secret role. The observer notes behaviors, and also the antidotes actually used. You keep time. “Go for the second meeting. Your challenge: really use your antidotes, not just display them.”

   Tip — Spot forgotten antidotes: this will be valuable for the debrief.

8. 8

   Comparison

   8 min

   Have the roles guessed again, count points, and qualify the decision. Compare the two rounds: lost time, clarity, participation, final decision. The observer starts, then the group adds. “What changed concretely between the two meetings? What did not change despite the antidotes?”

   Tip — Value small moves: restating, limiting, inviting people to speak, closing.

9. 9

   Charter and Debrief

   15 min

   Facilitate the debrief with the proposed questions. Then each table fills in Our Meeting Charter in 5 rules: one rule, the associated antidote, one guarantor. Close by having each table share one rule. “Your charter must be simple enough to use in your next real meeting.”

   Tip — Reject vague rules such as “be efficient.” Ask: what behavior will we see?

Variants

• Remote Version : Use virtual rooms of 5 to 8. Send roles by private message. Meeting and Antidote cards are screen-shared. The observer fills in a collaborative grid.
• Light Competition Mode : Each table adds up the decision bonuses from both rounds. The winning table mainly shares the antidote that helped it most.
• Same Scenario Replayed : For a finer comparison, keep the same Meeting card in round 2. Change only the roles and add the antidotes.
• Organization Charter : At the end of the workshop, merge all table charters to produce 5 shared rules for a department or business unit.