Meetings Are A Waste Of Time — How To Make Them Less Tedious

Even with the best remote and asynchronous ambitions in place, some  meetings are necessary. Hiring a new teammate, emotionally sensitive topics, 1:1,…

Here is how to make them worth everyone's time:

Organization is key

• Consider time zones: Your team maybe located over the world, plan for that.
• Name an owner: Name one person who is responsible for the meeting
• Have a goal: Make it clear what you want to achieve by the end of the meeting.
• Set context and an agenda: Explain why this meeting happens and what the agenda is.
• Include the right people: Think twice before adding anyone to the list of attendants. Do the person really needs to be at the meeting?

Have an exact procedure 

• Send reference docs in advance: Get everyone on the same page. Nothing more tedious than explaining the context to a single person while everyone is waiting.
• Name a note-taker: Someone who can keep it simple and send notes afterwards
• Be on time: It might not sound much, but if one person is late, everyone else has to wait. That could sum up pretty quick.
• Shorten it: 90 Minutes? Is this really necessary? Could it be done in 20 Minutes too? Conversations tend to fill up the given time.
• End with an action plan: Say what will happen next, and who will do what
• Record it: Rewatching a meeting could reveal more information. It's also documented to some degree, too.