Shared Workspaces: Your Superpower for Better Meetings

You’ve been in this meeting before:

• Someone monologues for ten minutes while everyone else tunes out.
• Ideas are tossed around, but no one captures them.
• The meeting ends, and no one really knows what just happened—or what to do next.

The problem? There’s no shared workspace.

A shared workspace—whether it’s a Google Doc, a Miro board, or even a whiteboard in a room—is the difference between chaos and clarity. It’s the tool that ensures meetings are collaborative, equitable, and productive.

What’s a Shared Workspace?

A shared workspace is exactly what it sounds like: a visible place where everyone in the meeting can see and contribute to the conversation in real time.

It acts as your group’s information radiator—ideas stay visible, alive, and actionable.

• Not hidden in someone’s notebook.
• Not locked in a folder no one will revisit.

Why “Information Radiator”? Unlike “information refrigerators,” where ideas sit and grow stale, a shared workspace radiates the team’s thinking—it’s alive and dynamic, evolving as the conversation progresses.

Why Shared Workspaces Work

1. They Level the Playing Field
   Not everyone is comfortable speaking up—especially in a room dominated by louder voices. Shared workspaces allow quieter team members to contribute at their own pace.

   • Instead of waiting for the “right” time to jump in, they can drop their ideas into the workspace as they think of them.
   • Everyone’s voice is visible, reducing the “caucus effect” where the loudest voices dominate.

2. They Keep Everyone on the Same Page
   Literally. Shared workspaces act as the single source of truth during and after the meeting.

   • “What did we decide?” → Check the workspace.
   • “Who owns this action item?” → It’s in the workspace.

3. They Spread the Cognitive Load
   Notetaking is often dumped on one person. A shared workspace allows the team to co-create notes, action items, and decisions together. Everyone owns the work.

4. They Focus the Group
   A blank page can be overwhelming, so a pre-seeded workspace keeps discussions structured and intentional.

How to Set Up a Shared Workspace That Works

Creating a shared workspace isn’t complicated, but doing it well requires intentionality. Here’s how to make it effective:

1. Choose Your Tool

Pick a tool that fits the purpose of your meeting and the type of work you’re doing:

• Simple discussions or notes: Use tools like Google Docs, Notion, or a shared Slack thread for collaborative text-based input.
• Brainstorming or mapping ideas visually: Tools like Miro, Mural, or FigJam let teams see connections, group themes, and refine ideas in real time.
• Complex timelines or roadmaps: Choose tools that handle moving pieces well, like Trello, Asana, or a dedicated product roadmapping tool. A Google Doc or Confluence page might feel too rigid for this type of work.

Tip: Start by asking, “What does the team need to see or do during this meeting?” If the goal is to visualize dependencies and timelines, a visual or Kanban-style tool will serve you better than a static document.

Why It Matters: The right tool supports your goals, keeps the conversation flowing, and avoids unnecessary friction. A poor fit—like forcing a roadmap into a word processor—will slow your team down and undermine the workspace's value.

2. Seed the Space Before the Meeting

A blank workspace is intimidating. Seed the space ahead of time with structure so the team isn’t starting from scratch.

How to Seed the Space:

• Add the meeting goal at the top: “By the end of this meeting, we will decide…”
• Create clear sections based on the purpose of the meeting:
  • For prioritization: “Potential Priorities,” “Risks,” “Final Decisions”
  • For brainstorming: “Ideas,” “Challenges,” “Wild Ideas”
  • For alignment: “What we know,” “What we don’t know,” “Next Steps”

Example: For a meeting to improve onboarding, seed a Miro board with:

• “What confuses or frustrates new users?”
• “What’s working well that we want to keep?”
• “If we could only fix one thing, what would it be?”

Bonus Tip: Share the workspace link before the meeting so people can think through ideas in advance. This helps quieter team members show up ready to contribute.

3. Facilitate Contributions During the Meeting

Make the workspace part of the meeting flow.

• Silent Brainstorming:
  Start with 3-5 minutes of silent contribution where everyone adds thoughts to the workspace.

  • Why it works: It gives everyone equal time to contribute without interruption.

• Live Capturing:
  Assign a note-taker (or rotate this role) to capture ideas, questions, and decisions in real time.

• Grouping and Refining:
  Once contributions are in the workspace, guide the team to organize, connect, and refine ideas together.

  • Look for patterns or themes: “What ideas are we seeing come up repeatedly?”
  • Clarify and prioritize: “Which of these ideas feels most actionable or aligned with our goals?”

  Why This Matters:
  This step is where co-construction of knowledge happens. By organizing and refining ideas as a group, the team builds a shared mental model—a common understanding of the problem, the ideas on the table, and the direction to move forward.

  A shared mental model reduces ambiguity and ensures everyone leaves the meeting with the same understanding of what’s important, why it matters, and what happens next.

Practical Example:
For a meeting about improving user onboarding:

1. Brainstormed ideas go into the workspace.
2. The team groups frustrations into themes like “too many steps,” “confusing messaging,” and “lack of personalization.”
3. Together, they refine the focus: “If we only address one theme this quarter, which one will have the biggest impact?”

By the end of the meeting, the team has co-constructed a clearer understanding of the onboarding problem and aligned on next steps.

4. Summarize and Make It Actionable

The last 5 minutes of the meeting are for review:

• What did we decide? Summarize key takeaways.
• What happens next? Capture action items with clear owners and deadlines in the workspace.

For example:

Why It Matters: A good workspace acts as the source of truth—no one has to wonder, “What did we decide?” or “Who’s doing what?”

Example in Action

Let’s say you’re leading a 30-minute brainstorming session to improve user onboarding. Here’s what your shared workspace might look like:

Before the Meeting:

• Seeded prompts:
  • “What frustrates new users in our onboarding flow?”
  • “What’s one small change we could test quickly?”

During the Meeting:

1. Silent Brainstorming (5 min): Everyone adds their thoughts to the Miro board.
2. Grouping Ideas (10 min):
   • “Let’s group similar frustrations. What themes are we seeing?”
3. Refining and Prioritizing (10 min):
   • “If we could only fix one thing, what would it be?”
4. Summarize (5 min):
   • Finalize the top idea and assign next steps.

After the Meeting:
The Miro board shows all contributions, grouped insights, and action items—ready to revisit next time. 

Building in a shared workspace, you don’t lose the rest of the input. If priorities shift or you find additional room on the roadmap, you already have a well-organized set of ideas ready to revisit.

This Is Just the Start

A shared workspace is your facilitation superpower. It keeps meetings focused, collaborative, and equitable—but this is just the beginning. As you build your facilitation skills, you’ll find new ways to use shared spaces for brainstorming, prioritization, and decision-making.

In Part 4, we’ll tackle time-boxing: the secret to keeping meetings on track and ensuring every minute counts.

Because meetings that matter need more than ideas—they need structure.

Want to transform your meetings into clear, productive conversations?
Let’s build the tools and systems your team needs to succeed.