Making Meetings Better in 2025

Over the past six weeks or so, one question has been at the forefront of my mind: How can I be the best version of myself in 2025? I've been soul-searching, evaluating how I do what I do, and digging into ideas from various thought leaders. Don't get me wrong: I am not unhappy. I am incredibly blessed to both love my job and my life. Yet, there are always things that could use a bit of a refresh or an update.??

My problem is not – and never has been – finding something to do with my time. It has always been finding the BEST thing to do with my time. My ADHD means that I have more ideas than one human can possibly execute in a lifetime. And my tendency for people-pleasing means I want to help when someone asks.??

Yet, at the end of the day, I need to focus on what is impactful to me and my role. Not just what I need to do but also what I want to do.??

Back in December, I spent quite a bit of time thinking about how I work on a daily basis. I evaluated what was working and what wasn't. What was keeping me from being the most effective version of me? Why didn't I get various tasks done or meet certain goals? What drained my energy and kept me from performing at the highest level?

The answer often came back to one thing: Meetings.??

Meeting fatigue is a very real thing. For some personality types and learning styles, being in lots of meetings can be physically and mentally exhausting. And on the opposite end of the spectrum are the extroverts who love meetings. Those are the "let's just get together and hammer this out" people. Meetings are marvelous for them. They get together in a room and talk through everything, and it really works for them.??

I am not at either end of this spectrum, but somewhere in the middle. Generally, I don't find meetings exhausting, but having too many of them can negatively impact my ability to get things done. I cannot tell you how many times I get to the end of the day, having bounced from meeting to meeting and having had great conversations but with no time to do anything to act on what was discussed.??

So, I devised some new "rules" for myself for 2025 that I believe will make meetings as effective as possible. Of course, I cannot impose these on everyone in my organization, but I will share these ideas and hope they inspire others to find their own "rules" that work for them. The magic will be somewhere in the middle that helps us all.??

1. Shorter meetings.

My standard meeting time is now 30 minutes. It was previously 60 minutes. Why? Because that was the default on my Google Calendar. Seriously – nothing more complicated than that. That default has been changed to 30 minutes. And I'll be scheduling more 15-minute meetings as well. I know a shorter meeting time will keep everyone focused.?

2. Fewer meetings.

My ultimate goal is to have one day each week without any scheduled meetings. I will have to start with a half-day that is off-limits for scheduling meetings, but by mid-February, I am committing to having one day per week designated as "meeting-free." In addition to changing when they happen, I will encourage our entire team to ask themselves if a meeting is necessary to handle an issue. Maybe a quick call on Teams is sufficient. Re-evaluating our recurring meetings is also a part of this.?

3. Agendas for every meeting.

Having an agenda forces whoever is hosting the meeting to focus on what needs to be accomplished. Having that agenda ahead of time allows everyone to come prepared and also helps keep things moving during the meeting.??

4. No back to-back meetings.

Part of my new style of working for 2025 means that after each meeting I need a window of time to consider tasks created in the meeting that I am responsible for, make notes for future me, and communicate important information from the meeting to various stakeholders. When you are in back-to-back meetings, you can't do this effectively. By meeting number three, you have already lost important information from meeting number one, no matter how good you are at notetaking.??

5. Right people in the right meeting.

How often have you been in a meeting thinking, "Why am I here? This has nothing to do with my role." Sure, tangents happen, and we aren't all needed for every conversation, but meetings can too often involve more people than is necessary to get the job done. I am going to be deliberate about who is included and why.??

Please don't misinterpret my approach as "anti-meeting," as that isn't my intention at all. I am a huge advocate for bringing people together – both to solve problems and just to connect. I have also been in many meetings where new ideas were generated that could not have happened without all the voices being in the same (real or virtual) room. I just think it is time to take a closer look at how things are done so there is more time for focused work that cannot happen when your day is overscheduled with meetings.??

This is also about respecting the many different styles of working that exist in any organization. We need to be mindful of how our colleagues work and learn best, but we also must respect that accommodating their preferences might mean making adjustments to how we've always done things.??

Have you tried any of these strategies? I'd love to know what worked and what didn't. Do you have other suggestions? I'd love to hear from you! I am sure I will make adjustments as I go through this - I'll report back on how it is going. And I'd love to share some of your ideas too!