There are many things I miss about my previous career. Time lost to vacuous, low-value meetings ain’t one of them. 😉

1️⃣
What percentage of your meetings fall into the BS category?

Are you happy with that? Unless it’s (near-)zero, I’m assuming not. How’s that happening? What part of the machine needs tweaking so you don’t repeatedly end up here?

2️⃣
Is it too easy to set up meetings in your world?

We might not want unnecessary friction to organise a coming-together; but raising the bar on what needs to be in place PRIOR to calling a meeting will create a net-gain in productivity, effectiveness and engagement. Raise the bar for yourself. Agree the same with your colleagues.

3️⃣
Can you say “No” to pointless meetings?

There is no meeting that you can get through quicker than no meeting at all. An upfront “No” is one of life’s great productivity and effectiveness hacks.

4️⃣
Are your meetings a GET-INTO or a GET-THROUGH?

Take a look at your next meeting. Is it a time-spend you can’t wait to GET INTO … or something you just want to GET THROUGH? Use this distinction regularly. Imagine if you were jazzed about every single meeting on your calendar as an opportunity to accelerate everything we’re working on. How good would that feel!

5️⃣
How well are we all framing our meetings?

Once in the meeting, how disciplined are you and your colleagues to set the stage, agree WHY we’re here, agree why WE’RE here and agree the desired OUTCOMES from the time we’re about to commit. (And here’s an extra tester: are we, as a team, capable of calling time on a meeting we now realise is not worth the calendar slot it’s occupying? Ballsy!)

6️⃣
How are you complicit in all of this?

Are you the “innocent” victim of a BS meeting culture? Or are you, too, playing a part: scheduling the occasional meeting too early, too late, with the wrong audience, with missing information, with no reasonable hope of an outcome. Or by saying “Yes”, not holding a boundary, not establishing target outcomes, or contributing to the talking shop?

Life’s too short and time’s too precious.

🔹 Check the efficacy of your scheduling “machine”.
🔹 Raise the bar: make it harder to have meetings.
🔹 Bring an upfront “No” when it’s needed.
🔹 Aspire that every meeting be an excitable working sesh.
🔹 Set the stage in ways that substantiate the time.
🔹 Watch for playing the “innocent bystander” card.