This is the title of Nir Eyal‘s most recent podcast episode and newsletter which, albeit, short, provides an honest view of a problem we all face, discuss (behind the scenes), and do little about: meetings.

Let’s begin by saying that meetings are needed. There are numerous reasons why that is the case: connection, engagement, decision-making, and action, to name some benefits.

However, there is no denying that the number of meetings on everyone’s calendar sometimes is overwhelming and many times (perhaps more than we care to admit), completely unnecessary.

They are distracting and generally cover more time than just the time allocated to the actual meeting. As put by Nir Eyal: there is time wasted immediately before the meeting, to get ready for it, and time wasted after the meeting, to go back into the task we were engaged in before.

So, if you were to take one step today to make your meetings more efficient, what would that be? For us, the first step in the right direction is taking the time to create a proper agenda. This is not listing the matters to be discussed. When I say “proper” I mean a detailed agenda where each item has a time allocation and someone responsible to take the lead in that particular discussion.

If you think this is too much work just to call a meeting, think about the time (and cost) of the last meeting that you participated in and be honest: could it have been solved by email? perhaps a shorter meeting? were you even needed in the room? If you answered yes, yes, and no to these questions, then perhaps is time to consider taking those extra 10 minutes to create an agenda for your next meeting.

Meetings are here to stay, but that does not mean they need to stay as they currently are.

Think again!

MV