What If the Best Meeting… Is the One That Never Happened?
Meetings: whether you love them, dread them, or just tolerate them, they’re a staple of working life. But let’s be honest—how often do you leave a meeting feeling it was worth your time? Or worse, how many meetings end with the only action being… to schedule another meeting?
If meetings feel like a black hole for time and energy, you’re not alone. According to Atlassian’s Workplace Woes: Meeting Edition:
- 72% of meetings are deemed ineffective.
- 77% of workers say they attend meetings that just lead to follow-ups.
- 80% of workers believe they’d be more productive if they spent less time in them.
I recently ran a LinkedIn poll asking: What’s one practical change that’s made your meetings more effective this year? 40% of you began sharing materials in advance; 30% focused on keeping meetings shorter and to the point; and 27% kept it lean by inviting only the essential participants.
But one of the comments that stood out was: “Are we expecting too much from meetings?”
Maybe we are. Or maybe, as another person suggested, the real issue is everyone’s expecting something different from the same meeting.
It’s clear that meetings need a redesign. Here are some ideas to reclaim your calendar, and bring back focus and energy to your meetings.
1. Get Clear on Your Meeting Goals
Atlassian’s research found that 62% of workers attend meetings without a clear goal in the invite. It reminds me of one of my favourite scenes from CS Lewis’ ‘Alice in Wonderland’:
“Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
Alice: …So long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.”
Without clarity, meetings become aimless—productive only in the sense that they keep people busy. But being busy isn’t the same as being impactful.
Before you schedule your next meeting, ask yourself: What is the one thing this meeting needs to achieve?
Different goals require different approaches, so be intentional about what you’re trying to accomplish:
- Are you brainstorming? Define the outcome: Do you need at least three bold ideas or a prioritised list of next steps? Once you’re clear on the goal, bring structure to guide the creativity without stifling it. Use IDEO’s 7 Rules for Brainstorming for purposeful ideation, and consider modern collaboration tools like Miro, Figma, or Notion (one of the tools my team are now using) to create an interactive space for ideas to flow.
- Aligning on a decision? Keep your invite list small and focused—limit attendees to the key decision-makers. Use tools like Google Docs or Confluence to share necessary context beforehand. During the meeting, simplify decision-making with real-time voting tools like Mentimeter, or decision boards in Asana.
At Amazon, meetings begin with a detailed memo that participants read silently for 15-30 minutes before the discussion starts. This ensures everyone understands the purpose and is prepared to engage meaningfully.
- Sharing updates? Consider if a meeting is even necessary. Instead, try recording updates asynchronously using Loom or ScreenPal. Use team platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Notion to house the recordings for easy access, or even deliver updates in digestible bullet points via tools like Friday.app.
Once you’re clear on the goal, communicate it to your team—starting with the invite.
- Replace generic titles like “Team Check-In” with purpose-driven ones like “Finalise Q2 Strategy.”
- Outline the desired outcome, e.g., “By the end of this meeting, we will have a prioritised action plan for XXX.”
- Include any prep work with direct links to relevant docs or tools, ensuring participants arrive ready to contribute.
2. Reevaluate Your Calendar
Meetings are like weeds—they’ll take over if you don’t prune regularly. But just because it’s always been on your calendar doesn’t mean it still deserves a spot.
Start with Your Own Calendar
Take a hard look at your recurring meetings. For each one, ask:
- Does this meeting still have a clear goal?
- Has it become a default rather than a deliberate choice?
- Are the right people in the room?
- Could this meeting be replaced with a different format (e.g., a shared doc or a quick Slack message)?
If the answers don’t stack up, cancel it—or at least rethink it. Could the meeting’s purpose be achieved with a different mode of delivery? Or perhaps the timing or length needs adjusting to make it more focused and effective.
This brings me to the aha moment that sparked Love Mondays into existence. Years ago, my friend Lee Crockford, through his non-profit Spur Projects, was mapping mental health trends across the week. The data revealed a major dip in well-being from 8–10am on Mondays—the infamous Monday meh.
Subsequent polling and research have backed this up: morale tends to hit its lowest point at the start of the week.
So, here’s the question you might want to ask: Should this meeting be on a Monday?
(A big shout-out to the BDO Australia team who told me after my recent keynote at their national conference that they’ve already removed a bunch of Monday morning meetings because of this insight.)
But let’s say the meeting has to stay. In that case, consider this: Is it the best time for deep strategy or brainstorming? Probably not. Mondays aren’t always prime time for tackling big, complex topics.
Instead, focus on lifting the room’s energy. Could the meeting set a positive tone for the week? Maybe it’s a chance to align on quick wins or share a bit of inspiration rather than diving straight into heavy discussions.
Help Your Team Reclaim Their Time
Encourage your team to audit their calendars, too. Show them that it’s okay—actually, it’s encouraged—to ask for clarity before saying yes. Provide them with a simple framework:
- Ask for clarity: “What’s the purpose of this meeting, and what’s expected of me?”
- If they’re not essential, decline politely: “Thanks for including me, but I don’t think I’m critical to this discussion. Let me know if there’s anything I need to weigh in on later.”
Shopify periodically “clears the calendar,” cancelling all recurring meetings and forcing teams to reassess their value. They also enforce “No Meeting Wednesdays” to create uninterrupted focus time.
Make Your Meetings Count
Meetings don’t have to feel like wasted time. By setting clear goals, auditing your calendar, and creating a culture of intentionality, you can reclaim your time—and help your team do the same.
Try this: Take 15 minutes this week to audit your calendar. Look at your meetings with fresh eyes. For at least two of them, ask yourself:
- Does this meeting need to happen?
- Can it be reframed to make it more focused or productive?
- Could it be handled another way—like a shared doc, a Loom recording, or a quick Slack message?
Then do it: cancel, reframe, or transform.
So, what’s the first meeting you’re going to rethink?
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