Lean Coffee: Structured Agenda-Building for Productive Team Discussions

Lean Coffee is a flexible meeting format that empowers participants to collectively build and prioritize their own discussion agenda. Originally developed for the Lean community, this democratic approach ensures meetings stay focused on topics that matter most to the team, making it ideal for agile teams seeking efficient, engaging discussions without predefined agendas.

What Is Lean Coffee?

Lean Coffee provides a simple framework for self-organized discussions where participants generate topics, vote on priorities, and methodically work through conversations with timeboxed discussions. The format follows a Kanban-style board with three columns: "Topics," "To Discuss," "Discussing," and "Discussed," creating a visual workflow for conversation management.

This approach combines the best aspects of structured and unstructured meetings - giving participants freedom to suggest topics while maintaining focus through prioritization and timeboxing. The format ensures that everyone's voice is heard, discussions remain productive, and the most valuable topics receive appropriate attention.

Benefits & When to Use Lean Coffee

Lean Coffee works exceptionally well for:

• Sprint retrospectives when you want an alternative format
• Team check-ins where multiple topics need addressing
• Project kickoffs to surface initial concerns and questions
• Problem-solving sessions requiring multiple perspectives
• Regular team meetings that often lack focus or structure

Teams benefit from:

• Increased engagement as everyone contributes to the agenda
• Better time management through structured timeboxing
• Democratic prioritization that focuses on what matters most
• Balanced participation across team members
• Actionable outcomes from focused discussions

How to Run a Lean Coffee Session

1. Introduce the format (2-3 minutes)

   • Explain the Lean Coffee structure and workflow
   • Share the timeboxing approach for discussions

2. Generate topics (5-7 minutes)

   • Have each participant create sticky notes with topics they want to discuss
   • Add all topics to the "Topics" column
   • Encourage specific, focused topic suggestions

3. Clarify and consolidate (3-5 minutes)

   • Have participants briefly explain their topics
   • Identify and merge any duplicate or overlapping topics

4. Vote on priorities (2-3 minutes)

   • Use Metro Retro's voting tool to allocate 5-10 votes per person
   • Participants distribute votes across topics they most want to discuss

5. Create the agenda (1-2 minutes)

   • Move voted topics to the "To Discuss" column
   • Sort by vote count (highest to lowest) using the Show Rankings button
   • This prioritized list becomes your meeting agenda

6. Discuss topics (5-8 minutes per topic)

   • Move the highest-voted topic to "Discussing"
   • Set a timer for the initial discussion (typically 1-2 minutes)
   • Facilitate an open discussion on the topic

7. Decide to continue or move on (30 seconds)

   • When the timer expires, quickly vote on whether to continue
   • If continuing, set a shorter extension time (typically 1-2 more minutes)
   • If complete, move the topic to "Discussed"

8. Repeat until done (depends on available time)

   • Continue working through topics in priority order
   • Move completed discussions to the "Discussed" column
   • Proceed until you run out of time or exhaust all topics

9. Capture actions (3-5 minutes)

   • Document any action items, decisions, or follow-ups
   • Assign owners to action items if appropriate

Total session time: 45-90 minutes depending on team size and number of topics

Tips for a Successful Lean Coffee Session

• Be strict with timeboxing - The timer creates productive constraints that keep discussions focused
• Use dot voting efficiently - Limit votes to 5-10 per person to force prioritization
• Encourage specific topics - Vague topics lead to unfocused discussions
• Use continuation voting - For the "continue or move on" decision, use quick thumbs up/down or the reaction tool
• Document as you go - Add key points and decisions as comments on the topic cards
• Consider a theme - For teams new to Lean Coffee, a loose theme can help focus topic generation
• Save your board - If you run out of time, you can continue in your next session with the remaining topics
• Rotate facilitation - After the first session, have team members take turns facilitating

Lean Coffee's adaptable structure works equally well for remote, hybrid, and in-person teams, making it a versatile addition to any agile team's meeting toolkit.