There’s nothing as bad as a manager obsessed with meetings. We’ve all been in those slow and useless meetings, with hours wasted in endless discussions that seem to go nowhere. Many managers pack their schedule with meetings to appear ‘busy’, but if you’re not one of them and genuinely want to step up your meetings (online or offline), then keep reading, and I promise your meetings will never be the same.
Here’s how to run a meeting that’s actually useful:
1. Clear Meeting Agenda = Success
Remember Roddy Piper? He had an agenda when walking into that bank. Without an agenda, a meeting turns into a chaotic free-for-all where everyone’s talking but no one’s really saying anything. Or even worse - you try to define the purpose of the meeting IN that meeting...
A clear agenda sets the focus, defines the goals and establishes expectations. Various studies have shown that a lack of clear agendas can significantly impact meeting productivity in a bad way, leading to wasted time. That's not lean.
- Pro-tip: Send the agenda at least 24 hours in advance, so everyone can prepare.
Imagine going into a meeting without an agenda - it’s like walking your dog without a leash in a park full of squirrels. You’re going to spend half the time chasing distractions.
2. Invite Relevant People Only
Have you ever been in a meeting where half the attendees didn’t even need to be there? Keep it lean and avoid that as inviting unnecessary participants only leads to disengagement, bloated meetings and, again, wasted time.
It’s much more effective to limit the invites to those who are directly involved or decision-makers for that topic.
- Pro-tip: If someone needs to be informed but not involved, send them a summary afterward. They’ll appreciate not being dragged into another meeting and you’ll have fewer faces staring back at you. Worst case, mark them as 'Optional' so they can decide themselves.
3. The 25-50 Rule
Stop wasting everyone's time. One way to do that is to stick to the 25-50 rule: schedule meetings for 25 or 50 minutes instead of the usual 30 or 60. This creates a sense of urgency and avoids meetings dragging on longer than necessary.
- Pro-tip: Keep your meetings short and to the point. The goal is to have fewer meetings and spend more time actually working, not the opposite. It’s like when training my dog - short bursts of focused effort are way more effective than long, drawn-out sessions.
4. Keep It on Track
Every meeting needs someone to moderate it and steer back when conversations side-track. As the meeting host, it’s your job to gently guide discussions back to the agenda. This is where timeboxing comes in handy: allocate specific time to each point of discussion and then stick to the schedule.
- Pro-tip: Think of it like a dog walk. If you let your pup sniff every tree and chase every butterfly, you’ll never make it to the park! Keep the pace steady and focused, and the walk (or meeting) will go much smoother.
5. Let People Leave When Their Part Is Done
If the meeting involves multiple departments or teams, don’t make everyone sit through every single point, unless it's relevant to their work too. There’s no point in having your designer sitting there through the monetization forecast discussion.
- Pro-tip: Structure the meeting that way so that once someone’s part in the meeting is done, they can go back to their work. They’ll appreciate the extra time to focus on their work, and the meeting will flow faster.
6. Record the Meeting for Teammates in Different Time Zones
Global teams are great, but time zones aren’t. Instead of forcing someone to join a meeting at an inconvenient hour, record the session and send it out afterward. This is one of the many ways to keep everyone in the loop within their working hours.
- Pro-tip: Most tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet allow you to record with the click of a button. It’s not just helpful for those in different time zones, but also for anyone who might need a refresher later on.
7. Always Follow Up with Action Points
A meeting without follow-up points is... pointless *pfa-haha-haa*. Always wrap up with a summary of action points - what decisions were made, who is responsible for what, when is the deadline? This ensures that everyone knows what to do next and holds participants accountable.
- Pro-tip: Use a shared tool like Confluence, Slack, Notion, Trello or even a simple Google Doc to keep track of action items. No one likes a game of broken telephone where the details get lost, so keep it clear and simple. If your team has as much energy as a labrador, they’ll appreciate a bit of structure to funnel that energy properly.
With these strategies in place, your meetings will stop feeling like a waste of time and start becoming efficient, purposeful and maybe even fun... nah, okay, let’s not get too wild.
Want to step up your meeting game? Try these steps and see the difference.
Want to keep digging deeper? One of the best resources is the Fellow blog which I definitely recommend to check out.
