Have Your Best
Meeting Ever

Download our free science-based playlist created by experts who have led hundreds of transformative meetings.

Download Your Best Meeting Ever Playlist Here!

If you’re a team leader or change maker,
chances are you bring people together.

At BOxD, we know how important it is to nail those big, transformative meetings.
Our consultants have decades of experience leading virtual and in-person workshops that focus on:

Solving

Working through big problems and designing new solutions.

Team Building

Helping teams sort through issue and come out stronger.

Change

Learning new skills and behaviors.

That’s why we put together this BEST MEETING EVER playlist. It’s been expertly crafted by facilitation pros to support the goals of different workshop sections and is perfectly timed to keep participants on track.

If you’re tired of hearing Pharrell’s “Happy” at every single work retreat since 2014 (no offense, we love Pharrell), you’re not alone. Read on.

Why is it so hard to get this playlist right?
Some thoughts:

Because meetings are typically about progress, the general tone should be upbeat and convey that you’re doing something significant together. But the music shouldn’t be so happy that it reeks of toxic positivity.

Most songs with lyrics can be distracting. Conversely, many instrumental songs can feel cheesy.

What are the guiding scientific principles
we used to build our awesome meeting playlist?

Tritones encourage broad, divergent thinking

We want this during brainstorming sections to
help generate a large volume of ideas.

Rapid, consonant, familiar chords

can take abstract thinking into a concrete mindset.
We want this when we are prioritizing activities or decisions.

“Happy” music

(here defined as classical tunes that are upbeat and stimulating)
help people perform better on tasks that involve divergent thinking.

Music with 50 to 80 beats per minute

can enhance and stimulate creativity and learning.

Don’t play music

when analyzing a problem, or when eliminating obvious choices or
solutions. Participants will either ignore background music, or feel distracted.

Break it down for me.
What kind of music do we want for each phase of the meeting?

Phase	What’s Happening	What We Want Participants to Feel/Do
Open	People are filtering into the room. Some are chatting with each other, making small talk with the group or in the chat. Some are checking their phones or finishing up an email.	Focused on our time together - Sometimes folks are coming from another meeting and need to shake it off to refocus. Relaxed / positive - Depending on the topic, they might come in with nerves or preconceived notions. We want them to feel at ease from the top of the meeting.
Breaks	People are taking bio breaks, checking their phones, or chatting with other people. Some may need to clear their mental state from the previous activity.	Come back on time! 🙂 Reset.
Brainstorming	People are challenging their thinking and generating new ideas.	Creative - We want everyone actively considering all possibilities. Productive - We want everyone generating lots of ideas.
Prioritizing (No Music)	People are narrowing down ideas, with very active discussion.	Dissect ideas and think more concretely.
Lunch	People are fueling up on food and conversation.	Relaxed, open and positive.
Energizers	We're waking people up through a series of activities.	Awake - It’s hard to come back from lunch! Most will need a boost of energy. Refocused - We're making great progress.
Reflection	People are reflecting on the time they've spent together. This typically includes a change they need to make themselves.	Introspective - We want them thinking about their personal involvement in the change and how they can make a difference.
Close	People are probably tired! For in-person workshops, many will stick around to talk to each other or to the leaders of the meeting.	Hopeful, charged and ready to take on the change - Going off in silence sometimes feels anti-climatic.