How to get more out of every meeting

I once sat through a 60-minute marketing meeting where 40 minutes were spent sharing updates that could have been a Loom video. The actual discussion, the part where we needed everyone in the room to make a decision, took 15 minutes. Five people in a room for an hour. That's five hours of collective time for 15 minutes of value.

After that meeting, I started asking a different question about every meeting on my calendar: "Does this actually need to be a meeting?"

The two valid reasons for a meeting

Meetings are good for exactly two things: brainstorming (collaborative thinking produces better ideas) and decision-making (complex situations benefit from multiple perspectives). Both of these require live interaction. Everything else, sharing information, giving updates, presenting data, can be done asynchronously and better.

The problem is that most meetings mix the good parts (brainstorming and decisions) with the bad parts (information sharing). You spend the first 30 minutes getting everyone up to speed and the last 10 minutes rushing through the decisions. Flip that ratio and meetings become valuable.

Replace information sharing with async

Here's what I use instead of status update meetings:

Loom videos. Record your screen, explain the context, send the link. The viewer watches at 2x speed (saving them time) and doesn't have to interrupt their deep work to attend a live meeting. I love Loom for design reviews, campaign walk-throughs, and "here's where we are" updates.

Comments in shared documents. If everyone can add their thoughts to a Google Doc before the meeting, you can skip the items everyone already agrees on and spend the meeting on actual disagreements. Less vocal team members often contribute better ideas in writing than they do in a room of ten people.

Visual feedback tools. For design or creative work, tools like Figma or Miro let people leave comments directly on the work. Share the design before the meeting. People arrive with formed opinions instead of reacting on the spot.

Five ways to have fewer meetings

Don't accept every invite. If there's no agenda, use the "maybe" button and ask for one. No agenda usually means the organiser hasn't thought about whether your time is needed.

Review your calendar on Friday. Look at next week. For each meeting, ask: is this still relevant? Can I skip it and read the notes instead? Can I join for just the part that needs me?

Cluster one-on-ones. If you have four one-on-ones scattered across the week, try moving them to the same day. This frees up unbroken blocks on other days for deep work.

Use speedy meetings. Google Calendar has a setting that makes 30-minute meetings 25 minutes and 60-minute meetings 50 minutes. Meetings fill the time they're given. Shorter meetings force sharper discussion. And the 5-10 minute breaks between meetings reduce stress and improve focus for the next one.

Microsoft research shows that back-to-back meetings without breaks increase stress levels significantly. Even a 5-minute gap between meetings improves both engagement and wellbeing.

Schedule fewer meetings yourself. Before booking a meeting, ask: could this be a Loom? Could this be a Slack message? Could this be a comment in the shared doc? If yes, do that instead.

Making the meetings you keep actually good

Always share an agenda beforehand. A meeting without an agenda is a meeting about what the meeting should have been about. Share the agenda 24 hours in advance so people come prepared. Decisions that need information get real answers instead of "I'll get back to you on that."

Question who needs to be there. Look at each agenda item and ask: does everyone need to be here for this? Maybe two people can join for the first 15 minutes and leave. Maybe the product team only needs the notes, not the invite. Mark people as optional when appropriate.

Take meeting notes every time. Assign one person to capture key points, decisions, and action items. Share the notes within the hour. This builds accountability and means people who couldn't attend (or chose to skip) stay in the loop.

The best meeting improvement isn't a better agenda template. It's having fewer meetings in the first place. Replace information sharing with async tools. Protect your calendar with the "does this need to be a meeting" question. And when you do meet, come with an agenda, keep it short, and send the notes afterward.

Pick one meeting this week that could be a Loom video instead. Record it. Send the link. See how much time you get back.