"Boy, I tell ya...Y'all are the most meetin-est folks I've ever met."
That’s what the conference room manager said as he checked me into a meeting for the fourth time that week. My manager couldn’t make decisions alone, so every minor choice required a full team meeting. Instead of leading, they sought consensus—delaying projects, wasting time, and making all of us sit through endless discussions. Plus, all those meeting snacks weren’t doing my waistline any favors.
If you’ve ever sat in a meeting thinking, “This could’ve been an email,” then you know how frustrating inefficient meetings can be.
Being a leader means making decisions. Sure, diverse input is valuable, but if your team is running in circles, it's because no one is leading the charge. Let’s talk about how to break the cycle of unnecessary meetings and improve efficiency.
6 Ways to Make Meetings More Efficient
1. Leaders Need to Make Decisions—Not Just Facilitate Consensus
Good decision-making starts with managing your mindset, emotions, relationships, and health. Follow the HALT rule: Never make a decision when you’re hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. If you aren’t mentally in a good place, you won’t lead others effectively.
2. Control Your Calendar: Less Meetings, More Work
If your day is filled with back-to-back meetings, when are you actually working? Block off time in your schedule for strategizing, planning, and execution. A full calendar of meetings means decisions will be rushed or postponed—leading to even more meetings.
3. Plan for Distractions (Because They WILL Happen)
Software developers are notorious optimists—they estimate work time perfectly but forget about distractions like meetings, bugs, and impromptu questions. Build in buffer time so your brain has space to process problems creatively. Sometimes, the best ideas come while staring out the window or right before bed.
4. Stop Holding Meetings for Status Updates
Meetings should be for solving blockers, not just reporting what everyone is doing. If a meeting is just a round-robin status update, send an email instead. Reserve meetings for discussions that require real-time collaboration.
5. Be Clear When Scheduling Meetings
A vague invite like "Team Check-in" is useless. Instead, be specific:
✅ "February 28th Workshop Planning Meeting – Agenda: Set workshop date, create outline, identify partners."
When people know what’s expected, they come prepared—and meetings run faster.
6. Document Decisions to Avoid "He Said, She Said" Later
Always document meeting outcomes. If leadership decisions aren’t recorded, it leaves room for misinterpretation (or blame-shifting later). Disagreeing professionally is okay—just make sure the risks and concerns are noted so no one can twist the story down the line. This reminds me of a recent MEME I saw:
🎙️ Watch Our Live Discussion on This Topic!
Leslie and I tackled this topic in our Lucky & Leslie LinkedIn Live. Watch a clip below and catch the full discussion here:
What’s the worst meeting you’ve ever been stuck in? Let us know!
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