How to run better meetings

If you are a marketer you need to be in meetings, yet only a fraction of those gatherings actually push campaigns forward. Helpful sessions clarify decisions and unblock projects; the rest siphon hours from deep work and leave everyone asking what was achieved.

After fifteen years building growth programmes I now run meetings through a simple operating system: accept only with a clear agenda, arrive prepared, facilitate with discipline, and finish with immediate follow-up. This approach has helped me and the other people in the room make faster decisions and reclaim calendar space. Try what works for you and adjust the levers until the balance feels right.

The first gate is the invite itself. I accept only when the organiser includes a purpose, decision points, and named owners. An email that reads “Catch-up?” returns with a polite request for a short agenda or a suggestion to handle the topic asynchronously. Most vague invites vanish at this step, saving everyone time.

I share the rule with teammates so boundary-setting becomes normal rather than a solo stance. When the whole marketing pod expects an agenda, organisers learn to define objectives before sending a calendar hold, and the quality of discussions rises naturally.

For two weeks I track accepted versus declined requests in a spreadsheet. The pattern is clear: agenda-led meetings run shorter and spawn fewer follow-up mails, while ad-hoc sessions often need a second meeting to finish the job. That evidence makes the policy easy to defend with senior stakeholders.

Preparation starts the moment an invite passes the agenda gate. I skim the objectives, gather any metrics or creative examples, and note the outcome I want before I click Join. Five minutes of focus halves the time we spend recapping context once the call begins.

Where facts are complex I share a short agenda in advance: one slide or three bullet points that outline background, options, and the decision we must reach. Participants arrive thinking instead of guessing, which turns debate into direction.

I treat preparation as a growth test. Each meeting I log prep minutes against meeting length saved. Over a quarter the data nudges me toward the leanest possible pre-read that still triggers decisive conversation.

On the day, facilitation keeps momentum high. We start at the scheduled minute, restate the objective, and assign roles: one person drives the agenda, another captures actions, everyone else contributes or leaves. If decisions land early the meeting ends early; no one complains about a calendar gift.

A visible timer helps. A fifteen-minute stand-up stays a stand-up when the clock sits on screen. People edit themselves, tangents wait for later, and the group respects that focus beats presence.

Before closing I read out the three Ws: what was decided, who owns each action, and when it is due. The note-taker types live so tasks flow straight into our task manager and mental tabs stay at zero.

Meeting value crystallises in the follow-up. I publish concise notes in our shared workspace within fifteen minutes. Late notes lose context and invite duplicate work, so I block a short slot after the meeting for this step.

Every action becomes a dated task tagged to its owner. A meeting is not finished until those tasks live in the system. This discipline closes the loop and turns conversation into concrete progress.

Each Friday I review action completion rates. If a recurring meeting shows poor follow-through I refine the attendee list, tighten the agenda, or convert it into an asynchronous update. Continuous tuning keeps the calendar honest.

Four habits turn meetings from drains into accelerators: insist on an agenda, arrive prepared, run the session with clear roles and timing, and finish with immediate follow-up. Implemented together they shrink the calendar, raise decision quality, and free energy for strategic work.

This is how I handle meetings and it has helped me, and the people joining me, produce faster outcomes with less fatigue. Pilot the framework next week. Gate each invite behind a short agenda, share your preparation, facilitate with a timer, and post actions before the next call begins.

Measure total meeting hours and shipped outputs by Friday. If the numbers look healthier, keep the parts that worked and iterate the rest. Your future calendar will thank you.