The following are five things you can do to help your team work smarter, be happier, and produce to results your company needs. Many people believe that teams get tuned up in retreats and other "away from work" activities. While these activities can be fun and relaxing, they do not necessarily lead to improved communication on the team. The following are exercises you can do while the team is at work in a meeting.

1. Once a week or so have one of the members present a verbal report on some item important to the team. At the same time choose another member to listen and repeat the report back when the speaker is done. In this way you are assigning the task of what is called "reflective listening." Choose different presenters and listeners each week so everyone gets to practice.

2. Have someone keep track of who is not talking during the meeting. Ask those who did not for their input, then carefully listen to the input and show them that you listened. Some people get in the habit of not saying anything, leaving things up to a vocal few to speak up at meetings. Your team is losing valuable ideas if this is happening. This exercise will help your team avoid this pitfall.

3. Spend a team meeting doing nothing but describing a problem without coming up with a single solution. Do nothing but try and get to know the problem in all its gory details. When someone tries to throw in a solution, gently remind the person that this meeting is only for describing the problem. Do ask the person to write their idea down for the next meeting. Experts in problem solving know that the most common mistake made is not describing a problem well before thinking about solutions. This exercise takes solutions out of the meeting entirely.

4. If you feel your team meetings are in a rut, have the team members sit in different places than they usually do. There is science behind this exercise. "In a rut" is simply another term for bad thinking habits. These "ruts" of thinking can be hard to change, but changing seats is not all that bad. Tell the team members you know it feels sort of scary to change seats, but you think a change is needed. Note: If a team is working well, there is no particular reason to change seating. That is, don't change the seating if it is working for you and the team.

5. If you have a natural "Ham" on your team that likes to sing, have them lead everyone in a familiar song every once in awhile. Something that everyone can at least tap his or her toes along with. This can be great fun and lead to much energy and creativity. If you don't have a "Ham," have the team think of a short, fun activity they could do. Of course a lot of members will think this is nonsense. The same members will almost invariably have a great time with whatever fun thing the team decides to do.