Create Space for Focus: How Ada is Leveraging Quality over Quantity to Improve Productivity.

Have you ever had one of those weeks where your Google calendar is a blue sea full of meetings? I’m sure you have, if not many. It’s an overwhelming feeling, and it leaves you with little room to get your work done. Productive? At ada , we think not. ??

Recently, Shopify shared widely that they’re done with unnecessary meetings. We couldn’t agree more. Ensuring meetings are necessary and valuable is a topic we know well at Ada. Months ago, I posted my approach to reducing the number of meetings I have in my schedule.??

Still, it remains top of mind. The People and Leadership teams here are serious about supporting work-life balance. If Ada Owners are having to catch up on when the workday is over, we’re not doing our job.?

The first thing we did to resolve this problem was the introduction of “Tune in Tuesdays” — a day of the work week with no internal meetings. But we know there’s still room for error here, and the potential for an overwhelming amount of meetings to creep in the rest of the week. The overall solution we’re seeking requires a shift in mindset and behaviours.?

We celebrate colleagues who keep meetings short and structured, with clear outcomes that allow us to focus on collaboration and decision making. Owners are encouraged — and empowered — to say no to meetings that don’t make sense for them. ??

So how can employees assess the quality of their meetings? Ask yourself the below:

• Is there a meeting agenda? If the answer is no, try postponing until one’s available to make sure it’s productive.? Another tip is to ask folks prior to the meeting if we still need this before everyone hops on the call.
• What recurring meetings can I cut?? These are the biggest culprit for adding meeting time unnecessarily.? Try to have as few recurring meetings as possible.? Any meeting with over 2 people should be assessed regularly to determine if it's required.??
• If you can't cut the recurring meeting, can it take place less frequently or be shorter? If you’re not getting 10/10 value from this meeting, it might mean it needs re-adjusting.??
• Is a meeting the best way to interact and collaborate on the topic at hand? Can you work asynchronously instead???

Now, you might be wondering, how do you measure success here? Any internal strategy requires regular employee feedback. Do employees have time for meaningful work every week? Are they only attending meetings they need to be at??

It’s all about creating space for focused work. “Focus” is one of our core values at Ada. We encourage employees to learn how to do fewer things, better. This is proven to improve productivity and the quality of employee output. Seems like a no-brainer, right? But there are good habits you can employ, like:

• Blocking off focus time: shut off email, slack, and phone notifications for blocks of time (2+ hours)
• Choosing one or two “high value” activities to focus on
• Looking for opportunities to both catch up and also get ahead
• At the end of the week, score yourself on how well this strategy worked: did you invest your tie on the highest value activities?

Giving your employees more time to focus, be productive, and create is the goal. By encouraging fewer, yet more productive meetings, throughout the work week will allow you to deliver, on a company-wide scale, quicker execution and delivery on projects and initiatives. ??