5 ways to Make Your Meetings Actually Useful
(and Stop Wasting Everyone's Time!)
Jan 12, 2025
Let's be honest: most meetings are a colossal waste of time. We've all been trapped in those agonizing gatherings that seem to stretch on for eternity, achieving absolutely nothing. You could be answering emails, making progress on a project, or, dare I say, actually enjoying your workday.
But what if I told you that meetings don't have to be this way? What if, instead of being black holes of productivity, they could actually be useful? Believe it or not, it's possible.
After years of running meetings and events at organizations like Google and Shopify, I've built a few key strategies that can transform meetings from time-wasters into valuable, results-driven sessions.
Here are 5 ways to make your meetings actually useful:
1. Have a Crystal-Clear Purpose (and Share It!)
Ever walked into a meeting with absolutely no idea why you're there? It's a common and frustrating experience. Meetings without a clear purpose are like ships without a rudder – they drift aimlessly and never reach their destination.
The Fix: Before you even think about sending out that meeting invite, define the meeting's purpose. What specific outcome are you hoping to achieve? Are you making a decision, brainstorming ideas, or providing an update? Once you have a clear purpose, share it with all attendees in the form of an agenda. This simple step can work wonders in keeping everyone focused and on track. A well-defined agenda helps avoid the common problem of meetings lacking direction and going off on tangents.
2. Invite the Right People (and Only the Right People)
We've all been in meetings packed with people who have no real reason to be there. They're either silent and disinterested throughout the entire meeting or worse, they derail the conversation with irrelevant tangents.
The Fix: Be ruthless about your invite list. Ask yourself: "Does this person need to be in this meeting to achieve the desired outcome?" If the answer is no, don't invite them. Having the right people in the room (and only the right people) is crucial for making decisions efficiently and avoiding those frustrating situations where discussions get sidetracked or stall due to a lack of necessary decision-makers. Remember, a smaller, more focused group is often far more productive than a large, unwieldy one.
3. Time is Precious: Treat It Like Gold
Meetings that drag on forever are a surefire way to kill morale and waste everyone's time. It's like being trapped in a time warp where productivity goes to die. Nobody likes it when meetings steal their valuable time, and endlessly long meetings are a common frustration.
The Fix: Time block your agenda. Allocate specific time slots for each agenda item and stick to them as closely as possible. This not only helps keep the meeting on track but also signals to attendees that their time is valued. And for goodness sake, start and end on time! Don't let meetings bleed into other commitments.
4. Ditch the Monologue, Embrace the Dialogue
Nobody enjoys being talked at for an hour straight. Yet, so many meetings are dominated by a single speaker, leaving little room for discussion or input. This is a frequent problem that makes meetings tedious and unproductive.
The Fix: If you have information to share, distribute it before the meeting. This allows attendees to process the information at their own pace and frees up valuable meeting time for discussion, debate, and collaboration. Instead of a monologue, aim for a dialogue. Encourage participation, ask questions, and create space for everyone to contribute. Use techniques like "Think, Pair, Share" to ensure everyone is involved and to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to contribute, not just the loudest voices in the room.
5. End with Clarity, Not Confusion
Have you ever left a meeting feeling more confused than when you entered? It's a frustrating experience, and it often stems from a lack of clear action items and next steps. It is common for people to be unsure of what was agreed or what they are supposed to do next.
The Fix: Dedicate the last few minutes of every meeting to summarizing decisions, assigning action items, and confirming deadlines. Who is responsible for what, and by when? Make sure everyone leaves the meeting with a clear understanding of what needs to happen next. This avoids the all too common problem of meetings ending without a clear path forward. And don't forget to follow up with a brief email summarizing the key takeaways and action items.
Conculsion
Meetings don't have to be a necessary evil. By implementing these five simple strategies, you can transform your meetings from time-wasting gatherings into productive, engaging, and even enjoyable sessions that actually achieve results.
Want to dive deeper into these strategies and discover even more ways to improve your meetings? Download our free ebook, '9 Ways to Lead Meetings That Don't Suck!' And if you're ready to revolutionize your organization's meeting culture, book a free consultation with MeetBetter today. Let's work together to make your meetings truly useful!
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The same strategies and activities our facilitator used to run events and meetings for Google and Shopify.
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Hi, I'm Guto Aaron. Over the years, I’ve been a lawyer, a school teacher and worked at startups, small businesses and in big tech. In every industry, profession and continent I worked on, most meetings were soul-crushing, productivity black holes.
After years of battling such ineffective meetings, I realised something had to change. I spent a decade designing and leading impactful meetings and events for Google and Shopify and have now made it my mission to help as many leaders, businesses and organisations as possible, lead effective, impactful and engaging meetings!