You probably recognize it, and I hear it at almost every company I visit: "We have too many meetings." And that sigh of: "Pfoeh, another meeting." It seems like our workdays consist more of meetings than actual work. I see a pattern that not only devours time, but holds back our ability to 'deepwork'.
Having meetings at 10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. means: being aware of the meeting before your meeting, being in the meeting during the meeting and still thinking about the meeting after the meeting. The result? Meeting all day, with hardly any time for focused work or actually getting tasks done. This, of course, does not benefit our productivity.
āAt Google they only do short meetings with only the right heads together.ā
Google tackles this well. They have perfected the art of 'not chatting too long but actually doing things'. For example, imagine shorter meetings where everyone gets to the point. They tackle it smartly with tight agendas and only the right heads together. If Google can do it, why can't we? Let's cut those meeting times and ramp up our productivity.
Here are the tricks to break that meeting culture.
Tips to reduce the number of meetings and improve the meeting culture
1. Shorter Meetings
Parkinson's Law states that "work expands to fill the time available for its completion." By halving the time for meetings, you force each other to be more efficient and focused, which not only improves productivity during the meetings themselves, but also leaves more room for concentrated individual work. So, for example, if a meeting is originally scheduled to last an hour, see if it can be done in 30 minutes.
2. Structure is Key.
Provide a clear and strict agenda (forwarded in advance), a designated 'lead' and afterwards for action points with assigned responsibilities. This makes the goal clear and ensures focus and clear wishes and results.
3. Use AI to Write Minutes.
Tools like Fireflies transcribe the meeting, summarize it and extract the action items. In the best case, such a tool also ensures that not everyone has to be physically present at the meeting. Important: This does about 80% of the work, it must always be checked, because it is and remains an AI tool.
4. Is Everyone Needed?
Something that I also see often; invite as many people as possible to the meeting. But a total of 8 people in a 1-hour meeting equals 8 full working hours. A lot of other work can be done there! Be critical when you look at the participants. Is everyone really needed? Should everyone provide input on the topic? Or is collecting input in advance and sending good minutes to them also sufficient?
5. Cluster Your Meetings.
Schedule meetings back-to-back rather than spread out throughout the day, so you can maximize 'real' work hours without constantly worrying about an upcoming meeting.
What do you think? Are these adjustments something for you or your team? Share your experiences and thoughts below!
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