Would you want to be treated in a hospital where the staff don’t do rounds because they’ve decided they can assess your condition from the comfort of a meeting room? Then why create a similar situation in your workplace?
During planning and review meetings, try to visit the workspace of each team or person involved. (In a small office, that may simply mean moving from workstation to workstation while different team members have their say.) By reporting from the comfort zone of their own desks, attendees reduce “meeting jitters” and are more likely to demonstrate a point than explain it, leading to increased understanding all around.
Now, this can get time consuming, so I wouldn’t expect you do this daily, or even weekly, but if you have a decent sized team, monthly recurring rounds will be appreciated by your team. Also, who knows what joke, smile or idea you may come up with.
Do you do your rounds? What have you discovered while talking to your team outside of meetings?