We’ve all experienced the frustration of sitting through a meeting that feels like a waste of time. Meetings are often necessary, but many can be unproductive and even avoidable. As a business owner or manager, it’s essential to put thought into your approach to meetings. Here’s how to eliminate unhelpful meetings and ensure that the ones that do happen are valuable for everyone involved.
Set clear meeting guidelines
A good starting point is establishing clear guidelines for meetings within your organisation. Make sure everyone knows when a meeting is necessary and when it’s acceptable to skip one. For example, employees should have the option to opt out of a meeting if they meet any of the following criteria:
- They aren’t directly involved in the decision-making process.
- Their expertise isn’t required.
- The meeting won’t provide critical information relevant to their role.
- They’ve already completed their contribution to the project.
- They have more urgent, high-priority tasks to attend to.
These criteria help streamline attendance and ensure that only the people who truly need to be there are present. Additionally, it’s important to establish best practices for all meetings. Ensure there’s always a clear agenda, designate specific days as meeting-free, and ask the essential question: “Could this meeting be an email?” Regularly challenging the need for meetings ensures they are only scheduled when truly necessary.
Lead by example
As a manager or leader, your behaviour sets the tone for the rest of the team. It’s important to demonstrate effective time management by prioritising your attendance at meetings and opting out when appropriate. While you may occasionally have to attend meetings that could be an email, taking steps to manage your time well shows others that it’s okay to do the same.
At the same time, it’s crucial to establish boundaries for your team. Avoiding a meeting simply because you find it boring isn’t a valid reason. Employees should understand when it’s appropriate to skip a meeting and when their input is necessary. Clear communication around this helps build a culture of mutual respect and trust, allowing team members to make informed decisions about how they spend their time.
Empower your team to take control of their time
One of the most valuable things you can do as a manager is to give your team the autonomy to manage their own time. Encourage your employees to assess whether their attendance at a meeting is truly necessary and trust them to make that decision. By fostering this level of autonomy, you create a culture of trust and confidence, enabling your team to focus on what’s most important without the burden of unnecessary meetings.
Conduct regular meeting audits
Meetings should serve a purpose, but over time, even well-intentioned meetings can become redundant or lose focus. To keep things efficient, conduct regular meeting audits to review the relevance and effectiveness of recurring meetings. This involves evaluating the meeting’s goals and assessing whether the right people are attending.
If a meeting is no longer necessary or can be handled more efficiently through another medium, such as email or a shared document, don’t hesitate to make that change. Always advocate for shorter, more focused meetings that involve only essential stakeholders. Clear agendas and actionable items are key to keeping meetings productive. Incorporating tools like Slack, email, or shared notes can also help streamline work and reduce the need for constant face-to-face meetings.
Avoid presenteeism
It’s important to shift the focus from attendance to contribution. Some leaders fall into the trap of judging an employee’s value by how often they “show their face” in meetings or how visible they are throughout the day. Instead, focus on results. Ask yourself: Is it really necessary for someone to be present at every meeting, or are they delivering exceptional work even without being there?
A results-driven approach helps eliminate presenteeism. Measure progress by outcomes and contributions rather than by hours worked or the number of meetings attended. Setting clear key performance indicators (KPIs) allows managers to assess performance based on impact, not visibility. This also reduces the need for micromanaging, giving your team the freedom to focus on delivering high-quality work.
In conclusion, reducing unproductive meetings and fostering a more efficient work environment requires intentional action. By setting clear guidelines, leading by example, empowering your team to take control of their time, and regularly auditing your meeting structure, you can create a culture where meetings are purposeful, and everyone’s time is respected.
