How often have you walked out of a meeting (or logged off) thinking, “What a total waste of my precious time”? Bad meetings aren’t just extremely frustrating; they’re costly and unproductive. Now imagine that you get so good at facilitating meetings that your team wishes every email was a meeting. Okay, that might be a stretch, but whether you’re the victim of bad meetings or the cause of them, there are ways to transform these gatherings into your team’s most productive moments.
The problem with bad meetings
Some people strongly believe that emails and Slack messages are sufficient when working in teams, making meetings redundant. The reality is that good meetings spark great ideas, solve problems, and allow teams to work together closely. Unfortunately, most leaders who run these meetings aren’t great facilitators, turning these valuable opportunities into unproductive sessions.
So, are meetings useful or not? The reality is that many aren’t.
Most bad meetings stem from a lack of structure or a clear purpose. Without this, participants aren’t sure why they’re there, what’s expected from them, or what needs to be accomplished. The result? Endless discussions about irrelevant topics with no clear outcomes—no next steps, no action items, and, you guessed it, no accountability.
When bad meetings become the norm in an organization, it will drain everyone’s energy and eventually be deemed something they dread. The true cost of bad meetings isn’t just the money you waste by meeting without outcomes; it’s a lost opportunity for meaningful work and progress. It slows up internal processes and can hinder decision-making. Disengaged participants, who are mentally checked out, become passive observers instead of active contributors.
Are meetings necessary? I believe they are, but not in the way most organizations are currently holding them. To avoid the pitfalls of unproductive meetings, many can be replaced with asynchronous communication by using tools like Slack for team collaboration and Trello, Monday, or Asana for project management. By using these, colleagues can share ideas and receive feedback and updates at their own pace. Reducing the need for unnecessary meetings minimizes interruptions in your workday and boosts productivity.
Depending on the types of conversations you’re having, it’s also essential to choose the right platform. For deeper, more reflective discussions that require trust and meaningful engagements, consider a video-calling platform like CircleSpace. Specializing in guiding small-group conversations, CircleSpace is all about fostering genuine connections and meaningful conversations—those that often get lost in the rush of daily work.
Once you realize that your colleagues don’t speak up during meetings, multitask, or show little excitement to contribute, they’re likely victims of bad meetings. But what if meetings became opportunities for collaboration and creativity?
The power of a structured and productive meeting
Bad meetings often lack structure, but well-organized ones with clear goals and engaged participants can be transformative.
The success of any meeting lies in the foundation, which begins long before the actual meeting starts. When inviting colleagues or partners to your meeting, clarifying the purpose and identifying who needs to be there is essential. Every meeting needs an agenda; without one, you risk losing focus, direction, and achieving goals.
An important point to remember: never create an agenda on the spot. Instead, create an effective agenda by gathering input from your team beforehand. Ask for their questions, key discussion points, and any challenge they want to address. Effective structure comes from solid preparation, allowing you to jump straight into action with clarity and purpose.
My go-to method for preparing for any team or client meeting is using Hyper Island’s IDOARRT meeting design tool. The acronym stands for Intention, Desired Outcome, Agenda, Roles, Rules, and Time, and this approach helps you prepare for effective meetings and establishes a clear purpose and structure upfront. By outlining these six elements during your meeting prep and introducing them at the start of the meeting, you create space for questions and suggestions. Once everyone is aligned, you can move forward with your plan.
Practical details, like ensuring everyone has received and accepted a calendar invite and reviewed the meeting agenda beforehand, can be game changers. You should avoid scheduling back-to-back meetings, which allows you with time to transition from one commitment to the next. Having 15 to 30 minutes before and after a meeting to prepare and reflect is crucial for maximizing the time spent together. In fact, this approach goes beyond your meetings and might be part of a larger conversation about creating a more thoughtful and balanced meeting culture across your organization.
Running the meeting - Steps for successful meetings
Now that you see why structure matters, let’s explore how this principle applies in practice. When running your meetings, it’s important to establish a set of rules or norms. These norms clarify expectations for everyone involved and typically remain consistent. Sharing these at the beginning of each meeting is a great reminder of the do’s and don’ts during your time together. It also ensures that your colleagues know what to expect from you, making it easier for them to hold you accountable if those standards aren’t met.
Most people underestimate the need to transition from one task to another. Walking from your desk to a meeting room is not enough, nor is running from your kitchen back to your laptop. During your meeting, you can use the first 10 minutes to check in with the team, see how everyone’s doing, and update each other on the things that have or haven’t been going well. Have you ever considered starting your meeting with a breathing exercise or meditation? If not, you should definitely give it a try! You can find a short meditation on YouTube or guide them through one yourself. This allows everyone to be present and start in a more relaxed state of mind.
Always have a fixed start and end time for all your meetings. One common frustration is when meetings go on and on and on (and on). If you didn’t go through all the agenda items, simply schedule a follow-up rather than letting it drag on. Your meetings should never be longer than scheduled, as people will lose focus and probably want to return back to work.
A few practical tips for your next productive meeting:
Tailored agendas: Customize your meeting agenda based on its purpose. An all-hands meeting, for instance, will have a different structure from a client check-in, problem-solving session, or emergency meeting. Tailoring the agenda keeps the focus sharp and the meeting productive.
Mute or Unmute: Depending on the nature of your meeting, determine whether participants should stay muted. For conversational meetings, it helps if everyone stays off mute. However, if someone is in a noisy environment, ask them to stay on mute to minimize distractions.
Encouraging equal participation: If the same voices dominate the discussion, use a randomized order or assign turns to ensure everyone has a chance to contribute. You can also ask quieter participants for their input to get different perspectives.
Setting speaking limits: To prevent one person from hogging the mic, establish time limits for each speaker—such as 2 minutes per person. This promotes equal talking time and keeps the conversation balanced.
Clarifying action points: Recap key decisions before closing the meeting, and ask everyone to share their next action with clear deadlines. Summarize these points in a follow-up email to reinforce accountability and begin the next meeting by checking in on the progress of these actions.
Assigning roles: Boost engagement by assigning roles like timekeeper or note-taker. By rotating these responsibilities in each meeting, everyone stays involved and offers opportunities to practice different skills.
Late arrivals and early departures: Addressing late arrivals and early departures can help improve meeting efficiency, especially if this is something that happens regularly. Are meetings scheduled back to back? Do your meetings often run over time? Based on your exploration, try adjusting the meeting timing or structure to accommodate participants better.
You can’t have it all: Facilitating vs participating
In my experience working with leadership teams and guiding Forums, I've observed that many leaders struggle to run meetings while trying to participate actively and effectively. Don’t underestimate the complexity of your role as the meeting facilitator, chair or moderator. Keeping everyone on track, encouraging meaningful conversations, and managing meeting flow—all while taking notes—is not for the faint of heart.
The leaders I work with often point out how much more valuable it is to fully engage in a well-structured meeting rather than getting bogged down by managing an unstructured one. Bringing in an outside facilitator, like myself, allows them to focus on the content, leading to more productive discussions and better decision-making. Simply put, if you’re facilitating, you’re not participating. It’s hard to guide conversations and contribute your ideas effectively at the same time.
Consider hiring an outside facilitator for key meetings like strategic discussions, problem-solving or brainstorming sessions. This lets you focus on your expertise while the meeting stays on track and achieves its objectives.
Conclusion
While some meetings could be replaced by emails or, better yet, Slack messages, many are essential to driving progress. But only if done right. With thoughtful planning, setting clear agendas, and fostering meaningful discussions, you can transform your meetings from time-wasters into a powerful tool for collaboration and innovation.
I'll leave you with two important questions to reflect on:
Does your team dread meetings? If so, it's time to rethink your approach and make a change.
Are you clear on the purpose of each meeting, and are there ways to maximize its value?
Don’t let your meetings become time-wasters; make each one count by applying one of these strategies.
Feel free to send me an email at renate@twenty6consultancy.com or drop me a line on LinkedIn if you have any questions!
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