christineHow to Run a Virtual Lean Coffee for Your Meetup Community
For the March WNB.rb meetup, I tried something different. Instead of our usual speaker format, I facilitated a Lean Coffee online, a structured but agenda-less discussion where attendees set the topics and vote on what to talk about. It went really well, and I wanted to share how it worked in case you’re thinking about trying one yourself.
What is Lean Coffee?
Lean Coffee is a meeting format where there’s no pre-set agenda. Participants propose topics at the start, vote on what interests them most, and then discuss in priority order with timeboxed rounds. When the timer runs out, the group votes to keep going or move on. Simple as that, and a lot funner and more interactive then it sounds.
The Setup: What We Used
I used Lean Coffee Table for the board and Google Meet for video. Lean Coffee Table handles the topic cards, voting, timer, and topic flow, and participants don’t need to create accounts. I pre-loaded some seed topics to get things started, pasted the Google Meet link into the board, and shared one link with attendees. That was it for setup.
The seed topics were a mix: AI and how it’s changing our work, Ruby and Rails in 2026, and some fun ones like “If you had to explain your job to a medieval peasant, what would you say?”, because I thought people might be over talking about AI. I put the wildcards in as energy resets if things got heavy, but honestly the group gravitated toward topics that were practical and personal all on their own.
What We Actually Talked About
We had 17 attendees, and between the seed topics and what the group proposed, there was plenty to choose from. The three that got the most votes were:
“What makes good team work in software engineering?” – This one got the most votes, and the conversation did not disappoint. Communication was the obvious starting point, but the group went way beyond that. We talked about shared troubleshooting, actually collaborating on problems together instead of tossing tickets over the wall, and giving gracious feedback, in and out of pull requests. The part that really stuck with me: connecting on a human level and meeting people how they communicate, not just how you prefer to.
“Where do you draw the line on what you let AI write vs. what you write yourself?” – This one got lively. Someone summed it up perfectly: “AI makes it work, I make it right.” Everyone agreed that everything feels different now, but the group was surprisingly practical about it. The big takeaway: if you don’t understand the generated code, ditch it and write it yourself. Can’t argue with that.
“What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?” – OK, this one hit different. The group shared some real gems: “Know what you want, and know how to ask for it.” “Done is better than perfect.” Someone recommended the book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle (adding it to my list). “The most important project you manage is your life.” And my personal favorite: “Would your 85 year old self be proud of you?”.
Topics We Didn’t Get To
That’s the thing about lean coffee: you won’t get to everything, and that’s fine. The voting means the stuff people care about most floats to the top. We had some great ones waiting in the wings: “If your codebase were a kitchen, what state is it in right now?”, the medieval peasant question, onboarding strategies, and a few more AI topics. Definitely saving some of these for next time.
One thing I found interesting: the more technical Ruby/Rails topics (Ruby 4.0’s ZJIT, Hanami 2.3) got zero votes. People wanted to talk about the human side of building software. I think that says something about where everyone’s heads are at right now.
What Worked
Lean Coffee Table + Google Meet was the right combo. The tool handled voting and timers smoothly, and the auto-generated PDF summary at the end meant I didn’t have to scramble to take notes during the session.
Seed topics helped, but didn’t take over. I pre-loaded a bunch of conversation starters so nobody had to stare at a blank board, but the group also came up with their own topics (onboarding strategies, interview processes, team belonging) that got just as many votes.
Everyone had a voice. The voting and timer mechanics naturally spread things out. No one person can dominate when the group decides what to discuss and when to move on. That matters a lot for a community like WNB.rb.
An hour was the right length. Three topics in depth felt like the right pace. I’d rather go deep on fewer topics than rush through a bunch.
What I’d Do Differently
Next time I’d spend a little more time explaining the format upfront. A few folks hadn’t done lean coffee before, and walking through the voting and timer mechanics at the start would have saved some confusion in the first few minutes.
I’d also trim down the seed topics. I had a lot pre-loaded, and a shorter list might push people to come up with more of their own.
Would I Do It Again?
In a heartbeat. Not every meetup needs a speaker and slides. Sometimes the best stuff comes from just giving people space to talk about what’s actually on their minds. That’s exactly what happened here, and I’d love to make this a regular thing.
Want to Run Your Own?
If you’re an organizer thinking about trying a virtual lean coffee for your community, here’s the short version of what worked for us:
- Lean Coffee Table for the board, voting, and timer. Free, no accounts needed for participants, and it generates a PDF summary when you’re done. Honestly this tool did most of the heavy lifting.
- Google Meet for video. Nothing fancy, just screen share the Lean Coffee Table board so everyone can follow along. Any video tool works here.
- Pre-load 5-6 seed topics across a few categories so nobody stares at a blank board. But keep the list short enough that people feel encouraged to add their own.
- 5-minute timer per topic, with the group voting to extend or move on. Three topics in an hour felt right.
- Share one link. I pasted the Google Meet link into the Lean Coffee Table board and only shared the board link. One less thing for attendees to keep track of.
The voting and timers do a lot of the facilitation work for you, everyone gets a say in what gets discussed, and no single person can take over the conversation. If that sounds like your kind of meetup, give it a shot.
A Note About WNB.rb
Full disclosure: I’m on the WNB.rb board, so I’m obviously not unbiased here. But I genuinely think this is one of the best communities in the Ruby world. It’s a welcoming, supportive space for women and non-binary Rubyists, and the people who show up every month are the reason I keep coming back.
WNB.rb is officially a non-profit, and if you’d like to support what we’re doing, you can find out more at wnb-rb.dev/sponsor-us. Every bit helps us keep the meetups running, support our speakers, and grow the community.
#community #leanCoffee #meetups #ruby #wnbRb
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