7 Ways to Spend Less Time in Meetings Each Week

If you ask anyone what they hate the most about their job, you will likely get one of the following as an immediate reply:

The daily meeting and follow-up,

The weekly team meeting,

The monthly company-wide meeting,

The meeting about the meeting (Most dreaded one).

This makes perfect sense, considering a staggering 55 million meetings happen weekly in the United States alone.

Don’t get me wrong. Meetings are indeed crucial for an organization to function. But let’s be honest, many of them drag on, feel repetitive, and leave us wondering if you have just wasted an hour on what could easily have been a simple text message.

The good news is that there are ways to reclaim that lost time. In this blog post, we’ll explore proven ways to save time during meetings while maintaining or maximizing meeting effectiveness.

7 ways to spend less time in meetings each week

Shorter meetings encourage staying on topic and make it more likely you’ll achieve the meeting’s goals in the allotted time. By the end of this section, you’ll be well on your way to saving time and escaping the clutches of unproductive meetings.

1. Prioritize your meetings

Only some things need to be a meeting.

Before planning a meeting, ask yourself: “Is this meeting truly necessary?”

Scheduling a meeting to announce or get a status update is a complete productivity drain. Even a fifteen-minute meeting can turn into half an hour of unproductive chit-chat. Considering the number of attendees involved, this is a significant loss of time and energy that could have been spent better focusing on the work.

Meetings should only be focused on finding solutions to the problems. Here are the three situations for which meetings should be reserved:

• Problem-solving: Brainstorming solutions to roadblocks or challenges. Answering the queries of the team.
• Decision-making: Discussing with critical stakeholders to reach a consensus.
• Idea generation: Gathering team members’ input, perspectives, and ideas on something new.

If the message is one-way and an email can suffice, there is absolutely no need to gather everyone for half an hour. Better yet, use a team collaboration tool. It removes the unnecessary formalism of an email, provides everyone with easy access to information, and makes your meetings far more efficient.

Hold focused meetings! Set clear agendas, capture key decisions, and start taking action–all in ProofHub. Start Your Free trial.

2. Define the agenda

One of the most effective ways to conduct a productive meeting is to define the conclusion of the meeting beforehand. It doesn’t have to be rigid. You can choose a hypothetical one, too. Based on the conclusion, you can easily set the agenda for your meeting.

Here’s a two-step process to carry it out effectively:

• Define the “Why”: The big-picture goal of the meeting. Tell everyone involved what you intend to achieve by the end of the meeting. Make it clear, concise, and measurable if possible.
• Define the “What” and “ How”: This is the agenda of the meeting. Outline the specific topics and create the order in which they should be discussed.

Pro tip: Make every item on the agenda time-bound.

This can look like this:

9:10–9:20: Review of current marketing campaign performance

9:20–9:40: Discussing potential solutions for optimization

9:00–9:50: Evaluation of the effectiveness of proposed solutions

9:50–10:00: Decision on Next Steps

Sharing this agenda with attendees beforehand allows them to come prepared, keeps the meeting focused and reduces time wasted figuring out where to begin.

3. Optimize meeting length

Imagine you are racing a deadline, and your boss calls a meeting. You immediately know you might have to pull an extra half-hour to complete everything before going home.

Science says that you might not have to. Donna McGeorge, author of “The 25-Minute Meeting,” suggests that the Pomodoro technique can also be used to optimize meeting length for peak productivity.

Her research suggests that meetings should be at most 30 minutes. Default to shorter meetings. Aim for 20–30 minutes whenever possible, and keep it laser-focused on finding the solution. Thanks to ProofHub, most of our meetings have already stayed within this sweet spot for productivity.

Here’s how we tailor time to the topic:

• Information sharing: Share updates, concerns, and anything else using ProofHub beforehand, then use the meeting for quick clarifications (think 5–10 minutes).
• Regular 1:1s: Keep these conversations between 20–40 minutes to ensure both parties have dedicated time.
• Client meetings: Aim for a tight 30 minutes. Respect their time, come prepared, and share an agenda beforehand.

Also, don’t let your meeting end without a clear plan. Before you wrap it up, take 2 minutes to assign action items to specific people with deadlines. This ensures everyone knows precisely what they need to do next, keeping the momentum going even after the meeting.

4. Invite the right people only.

According to Jeff Bezos,

“A team should be small enough to be fed with two pizzas.”

It’s a brilliant principle for cost-effectiveness, but this wisdom also extends to improving your meetings.

Keep the circle small. Smaller groups provide more room for active participation by each member. People are less hesitant to share their ideas and opinions, potentially leading to the gathering of more innovative solutions.

You can ask the following questions before sending the invites:

• Does this person need to be present for the decision, or can they be updated later?
• Can their specific contribution be delivered more efficiently via email or a quick document beforehand?
• Will they be a vocal participant in the discussion or simply an observer?

By inviting only those who directly contribute, you ensure everyone stays on topic. This cuts down on distractions and irrelevant information.

Additionally, smaller teams reach agreements faster due to fewer voices involved, saving valuable time for everyone. So not only are you saving on meeting costs, but your team is also getting more done in less time.

5. Embrace technology for efficiency

Regular check-ins are an integral part of your job if you are a manager or a team leader. However, there are more effective ways to do that than meetings.

ProofHub can save you from many redundant meetings. It provides the ultimate visibility into the work by consolidating status updates, files, communication, and a lot more at one accessible location. With everyone on the same page, the need for repetitive meetings cuts down significantly.

Here are the top five features of ProofHub to cut down your meeting time:

• Task management: ProofHub lets you assign tasks to your team, set deadlines, and track how long things take. Plus, you can add extra details and chat about tasks directly within ProofHub, so there is no need to explain things twice in a meeting.
• Discussions: It can be challenging to remember what was said in the last meeting. ProofHub has a discussion feature that allows you to have long, topic-specific conversations with your team. Everything is saved in one place, so it’s easy to find information later during the meeting.
• In-built chat: ProofHub has a built-in chat, so you can connect with your team right away. Share ideas, thoughts, and files instantly. No need to schedule a meeting every time you have a little doubt.
• All-in-One calendar: ProofHub’s calendar shows your personal events, tasks, and project goals, so you know exactly what needs to be done and when. Plus, you can see everything from all your projects in one place, with color coding for easy identification.
• Automatic reports: ProofHub automatically tracks your project data and shows you exactly the current status of everything you need to track. This saves your team time creating long presentations and summarizing information in meetings.

ProofHub can save you from repetitive tasks, freeing up valuable meeting time for strategic discussions and problem-solving. Your team can focus on what truly drives results.

Free up meeting time for what matters-problem-solving and brainstorming. Let ProofHub take care of repetitive tasks and status updates. Try for free

6. Set rules for the calendar

Calendar rules automate tasks based on predefined conditions within your calendar events.

This is an amazing feature that can significantly reduce your time spent on meetings. Rules can automatically handle tasks based on what’s in your calendar, freeing up your time to focus on what truly matters.

• Automatic reminders: Set a rule to automatically send reminders for all meetings say 15 or 30 minutes beforehand, so everyone’s prepared and on time.
• Buffer Time for Transitions: Use a rule to automatically block off “buffer time” before and after recurring meetings. This prevents double bookings and allows you to mentally switch gears between meetings.
• Color-coded meetings: Use color-coding rules to easily identify important meetings or those requiring specific preparation. This helps you see what needs your attention at a glance.

Additionally, calendar rules can also help you achieve better work-life balance. Block off dedicated “focus time” on your calendar to ensure uninterrupted time for individual work. Don’t be afraid to say “no” to meetings that don’t fit your priorities or seem unnecessary.

Here are two of my favorite rules for my calendar:

• No early meetings on Monday: Those early Monday morning meetings when everyone’s still waking up or those late Friday afternoon ones when everyone’s mentally checked out are of no use.
• A “no meeting day:” Designating one day a week as a meeting-free zone gives you a much-needed break from the constant barrage. This allows for uninterrupted work or some well-deserved personal time. Imagine a whole day to actually focus and recharge.

7. Progressive scale for evaluating your meetings

Lastly, measure your meetings. If you can evaluate your meetings’ effectiveness on a scale, you can find the areas of improvement to reduce the time wasted on unproductive aspects of a meeting. You can use a simple rating scale from 1 (waste of time) to 5 (highly productive).

Encourage attendees to anonymously rate the meeting based on factors like clarity of goals, efficient use of time, and action items established.

Here’s how to use this data:

• Analyze and adapt: Look for trends in the ratings. For example, if the “clarity of goals” score is consistently low, it suggests a need for more focused agendas that clearly outline the meeting objectives.
• Consider taking an opinion: You can also add a space for people to write in their ideas on how to make meetings better. This way, they can explain their ratings and share any thoughts you might have missed.

By consistently using the rating system and adapting your meetings based on feedback, you’ll see a gradual improvement in their effectiveness. Meetings will be shorter and more productive. With more focused and productive meetings, you’ll save valuable time and happier team members.

Conclusion

Meetings are crucial for brainstorming, decision-making, and keeping everyone on the same page. However, they can be notorious black holes for productive time, leaving attendees with a stack of unfinished tasks and a foggy head.

A simple solution? Fewer, shorter meetings with clear agendas and action items can ensure those precious productive hours aren’t sacrificed. Keep the focus of meetings clear, and stick to it during meetings.