If your meetings seem to drain time and energy without delivering results, you’re not alone. Meetings are meant to be strategic tools for alignment, decision-making, and momentum building, yet too often they turn into a meaningless waste of time. If your team leaves meetings feeling unfocused or frustrated, it might be time to reassess the necessity and value of your meetings.
Not sure if you’ve got a meeting problem? Check out “5 Signs Your Meetings Need a Makeover” on our blog.
Effective meetings don’t just happen—they require intention, structure, and a commitment to making them productive. Here are five tips to help you and your team start running meaningful meetings.
1. Ask Why (or If) You Need a Meeting
Your team might complain that meetings take them away from “real work,” while still defaulting to meeting for work that doesn’t require a meeting. Ask more often if a meeting is really necessary, or if a shorter meeting to jump start a project, make a key decision or brainstorm new ideas would facilitate future asynchronous work supported by the myriad tech tools currently available for collaboration and project management. Consider “meeting-free” weeks or days or try cancelling all standing meetings for a month and see what happens. The goal isn’t to eliminate all meetings, but to reset and prioritize only those that add value.
2. Calculate the Cost of Meeting
Meetings are an investment—of money, time, and attention. Between executive time, the hourly rates of team members, and the opportunity cost of what doesn’t get done, the cost adds up fast. Encourage your team to treat meetings like investments. Define the purpose of each meeting up front and ask yourself if the objective and attendees justify the investment. Every meeting should have measurable outcomes, from new insights gained to decisions made.
3. Shake Up the Meeting Routine
Teams often limit themselves to conventional meeting formats without exploring options that might drive better results. Try “pattern interrupts,” like changing the meeting location or lead facilitator, using different virtual platforms, or even opting for standing or walking meetings. These shifts can be simple yet powerful ways to break up monotony and encourage fresh engagement. Shaking things up can make stale meetings fresh and focused.
4. Create Meeting Agendas Centered on Outcomes, Not Updates
If any meeting is mostly (or only!) status updates, then you probably don’t need that meeting. Have your team set agendas focused on specific outcomes—such a prioritized list of solutions, agreement on new promotion criteria, or initial ideas for this year’s holiday party. By including updates as a pre-read, your meetings can focus on discussion, action, and problem-solving instead of one-way information sharing. Assign a leader who will frame each agenda item, facilitate the discussion and be accountable for achieving the outcomes.
5. Ask for Help
There’s no shame in seeking external support to improve meeting quality. Experts in meeting facilitation and team dynamics can help you redesign meeting structures that align with your organizational goals. Whether it’s team coaching, leadership workshops, or tools like our Meeting Makeover Kit™, leveraging outside expertise ensures your meetings are purposeful and productive.
Effective meetings are intentional and outcome driven. By following these tips you’ll transform your meetings from necessary evils to tools for success, saving you and your team time, money, and energy.
Additional resources:
VIDEO: Great Meetings Can Improve Employee Morale: Here’s How
VIDEO: Most People Don’t Hate Meetings; They Hate BAD Meetings. Here’s How To Fix It.
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