Time Management Tip: Avoid Wasting Time in Meetings

With working professionals spending more than half their working time sitting in meetings it’s important to avoid wasting time in meetings.

Meetings with clients, co-workers, suppliers, your boss…there seems to be no end to the number of meetings (virtual or otherwise) that fill up your calendar.

Don’t get me wrong, meetings can be good and are often necessary. 

They provide an avenue for people in an organization to set goals, plans, and action steps. It’s where tasks are assigned and delegated, and updates are made.

Sometimes, everyone in the office is all too busy with their own work that meetings are the only place they discuss things with the rest of the group.

However, meetings have a tendency to get out of hand and people end up wasting time in meetings.

Some go on for hours on end without a clear direction.

People gather together without a clear agenda, side meetings go on simultaneously, no one facilitates, and ultimately time is wasted and nothing is achieved. Even worst, people never seem to learn from these failed meetings, and more meetings are scheduled.

When you are searching for ways to capture time back into your day, to be more productive and avoid wasting time in meetings, this is a good place to start.

Start by asking yourself these questions:

1. Why are we having this meeting? Is a meeting the only option?
2. Who absolutely needs to attend? Who doesn’t need to but we often include?
3. What do we want to accomplish during the meeting?
4. How long do we need in order to accomplish our goals?
5. How will we know it was successful?

The answer to these questions will help guide the direction and avoid wasting time in meetings.

Here are tips help you avoid wasting time in meetings:

• Make sure someone facilitates and leads the meeting. Every meeting needs someone to steer the meeting, and the attendees in the right direction if the discussion begins to get out of hand. The facilitator will help control the flow of discussions, and direct everyone to move on when the meeting tends to dwell too much on details.
• Set a clear agenda for the entire meeting. This will keep everyone guided on major concerns and issues to be discussed. And share the agenda with the attendees in advance so they know what to expect and can come prepared.
• Always aim to keep the meeting short. The longer employees sit in a meeting, the longer they leave work undone. Set the timeframe for the meeting and stick to it. Setting the agenda and goals for the meeting will help you keep it short.
• Each speaker or presenter should be given a time limit. This will allow the meeting to move smoothly from one topic to the next. Make sure to build in time for Q&A for each presenter.
•  Never leave the meeting with vague plans and unfinished ideas. The productivity of the entire meeting should be measured by concrete action steps everybody agreed on.
• To follow through with action steps agreed to, make sure someone keeps track of the minutes of the meeting. Send it to each one present during the meeting, and include a list of the tasks assigned to each member of the team.

It will take practice to avoid wasting time in meetings and master the art of productive meetings. 

It’s easy to allow side topics to take you off course or to spend too much time letting everyone have time to speak, about every topic and not get through the agenda or decisions made.

A lot of time is wasted in meetings that aren’t necessary or unproductive. Take a look at meetings you attend and meetings you convene and see where you can recapture some time.

Want to figure out other places you may be letting time slip away? 

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Linda Finkle

Executives and top performers in leading companies rely on Executive Coach Linda Finkle to call them on their blind spots, expand their influence and create bigger things for themselves and the companies they lead. High-achieving professionals from Ameriprise, Mass Mutual, Blue Cross Blue Shield, major law firms and dozens of others have come to know Linda as their secret weapon to overcome leadership and communication challenges that stand in their way of making an even bigger impact.

Linda is described as ‘the best of both worlds in that she understands revenue pipeline management as well as running an organization day-to-day’ and ‘an invaluable resource and advisor’ by others. No matter how they describe her, clients regularly welcome the benefits that come from their work together. Most notably, clients’ gross revenues skyrocketed, communication skills have been refined creating a lasting ripple effect across the organization, allowing them to make bigger impacts at work and in their personal lives, and learn smarter ways of adding value without burning out.

Known for her great rapport and relationship-focused demeanor, she is often called direct and has a truth-telling way about her. Linda Finkle has coached and trained more than 2,000 leaders in six countries since 2001. Widely known as “The Elephant Chaser”, Linda has a reputation for going straight for the throat of whatever problems a business is having and working closely with leaders and managers to resolve them and to heighten the company’s overall performance. Whether working one-on-one with clients, as an inspiring speaker, as a leadership team facilitator, or with partnerships in distress, Linda is committed to guiding clients to clarity about their communications, behaviors and stumbling blocks that stand in the way of their effectiveness.

Before launching Incedo Group, LLC, Linda built and managed an executive recruiting firm for more than twenty years. Her recruitment agency identified talent for Fortune 500 companies and small to mid-sized business as well, and ranked among the top 10 recruiting firms in the country. Her ability to understand the corporate culture and needs of the company for both the long and short term ensured her clients returned time and again. Even today, clients and candidates from her recruiting days reach out to her for advice, help, and guidance.

Her ability to build trust immediately, her powers of perception and intuition, along with her tactful and direct style, create a space that allows clients to share their truth and receive the feedback they won’t hear from anyone else. It is exactly what they need to make changes to catapult their leadership and companies in powerful ways.