Lean Coffee: Transform Your Boring Meetings

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• What is Lean Coffee?
• The Lean Coffee Format: A Step-by-Step Guide
• Digital Tools for Lean Coffee
• Benefits of Lean Coffee
• Where to Use Lean Coffee
• Ready to Start?
• FAQ

Introduction

How many times have you sat through a meeting that wandered off track, wasted valuable time, and left key issues unaddressed? We've all been there. But what if I told you there's a better way to run meetings that actually gets people excited to participate? Enter Lean Coffee, a meeting format that's changing how people collaborate, one sticky note at a time.

What is Lean Coffee?

Lean Coffee started in 2009 when two Lean coaches in Seattle, Jim Benson and Jeremy Lightsmith, wanted to create a different kind of meeting format. They were tired of rigid, structured meetings with predetermined agendas that often missed what people really wanted to discuss. Their solution? A straightforward but effective format where participants create the agenda on the spot.

Lean Coffee is a structured but agenda-less meeting where participants decide what to discuss through a democratic voting process. It serves as a self-organized discussion group that ensures everyone's voice is heard.

The Lean Coffee Format: A Step-by-Step Guide

Here's how to run your own Lean Coffee session:

What You Will Need:

• Regular sticky notes work well
• Markers or pens
• A timer (your phone works perfectly)
• A flat surface, wall or whiteboard
• People

The Steps:

1. Topic Collection (5-10 minutes)
• Everyone writes their topic ideas on sticky notes.
• One topic per note, keep it brief.
• Stick them on the wall or table for everyone to see.
2. Voting (5 minutes)
• Each person gets 3 votes (dots drawn on the sticky notes).
• You can put all your votes on one topic or distribute them across different topics.
• The topics with the most votes rise to the top.
3. Discussion Time
• Start with the highest-voted topic.
• Set a timer for 5-8 minutes.
• When time's up, quick vote: thumbs up (continue), sideways (wrap up), or down (move on)
• If the majority votes to continue, add 3-5 more minutes.

Digital Tools for Lean Coffee

While sticky notes and markers work great for in-person sessions, virtual meetings need digital alternatives. Here are excellent tools for remote Lean Coffee:

Tools for Running Online Sessions

• Trello: Ideal for Lean Coffee with its card-based system. Create three columns (To Discuss, Discussing, Discussed), add topics as cards, and use the voting power-up for topic selection.
• Miro: Virtual whiteboarding tools with sticky note features, voting capabilities, and built-in timer functions.

Benefits of Lean Coffee

Why should you give this format a try? Here are some reasons:

• Everyone Has a Voice: Even the quiet folks get a chance to contribute.
• No Time Waste: Discuss only what people find important.
• Built-in Engagement: When participants vote on topics they care about, they're naturally more invested in the discussion and more likely to contribute meaningful insights.
• Flexible Format: Works for both in-person and online meetings.
• Simple to Learn: Anyone can facilitate after seeing it once.

Where to Use Lean Coffee

This format works well for:

• Team meetings
• Community meetups
• Sprint retrospectives
• Networking events
• Problem-solving sessions
• Skill-sharing sessions among team members

Ready to Start?

Why not try Lean Coffee at your next meeting? You might be surprised at how engaged people become when they have a say in the discussion. Check Meetup.com for "Lean Coffee" groups in your area—many cities have regular meetups to experience the format firsthand and connect with practitioners. If you can't find one nearby, consider starting your own Meetup group.

The best meetings are the ones where everyone leaves feeling their time was well spent. Lean Coffee might help achieve that consistently.

FAQ

Q: What if someone dominates the conversation? The time-boxed format and voting system prevent this. The facilitator can also remind everyone about equal participation.

Q: What’s the ideal number of participants for Lean Coffee? 5-10 is ideal, but it can work with up to 15. For larger groups, consider breaking into smaller sessions.

Q: Can this work in virtual meetings? Absolutely! Use tools like Miro, Trello, or Google Docs to collect and vote on topics.

Q: What if we don't cover all the topics? That's normal. Focus on quality discussions rather than rushing through everything. Topics can always return in future sessions.