August 26, 2025
Meetings Don’t Need Another Agenda. They Need Energy
For years, companies have tried to “fix” meetings with better agendas, clearer purposes, and tighter time management. But a new survey from Funmentum Labs reveals that the real missing ingredient isn’t productivity or preparation, it’s energy.
The numbers paint a stark picture. Only one in three employees describes their meetings as excellent. Fewer than half (47%) leave meetings feeling energised, while 37% say meetings leave them drained and joyless. Just 39% can even recall what happened afterwards, with government, healthcare, and manufacturing workers reporting the worst experiences. Perhaps most striking, more than half of employees say that laughter and spontaneous creativity are the fastest ways to recharge at work. In short, meetings have become the battery drain of the modern workplace.
Meeting Must Spark Momentum
When asked what makes a meeting great, employees ranked energy as the top priority, above productivity, purpose, and even engagement. Meetings are no longer judged by how many action items are completed, but by whether they spark momentum. And right now, most teams are running on empty.
Employees aren’t asking for another tightly scripted status update. They want to leave meetings feeling better than when they joined. Shared laughter, spontaneous creativity, and a sense of connection are what give teams the lift they need.
“Funware was built for every team stuck in meetings that drain more than they deliver,” said Mark Halvorson, co-founder and CEO of Funmentum Labs. “Energy is the new KPI, and Funware brings it back to meetings so people leave feeling better than when they walked in.”
AI-Powered Facilitation Platform
To tackle the energy crisis head-on, Funmentum Labs has launched Funware, an AI-powered facilitation platform that transforms virtual meetings into engaging, human experiences. Acting as a built-in facilitator for Zoom, Funware eliminates the need for preparation and ensures each meeting is structured, productive, and energising.
Its features include an AI concierge that instantly matches a meeting goal with the right activity, one-click interactive exercises to keep people engaged, and AI personalisation that tailors sessions to team goals and dynamics. Automatic recaps summarise highlights and next steps, while creative features such as AI-generated “guest” participants and lightweight social signals like emoji head nods bring warmth and spontaneity to the digital room.
This shift could not come at a more critical moment. Return-to-office mandates have failed to repair company culture. Project management tools haven’t rebuilt trust. And while AI has improved productivity, it hasn’t solved the human experience of work. Funware aims to fill that gap by focusing not on tasks but on chemistry—the spark that makes collaboration come alive.
