Meetings

#Beingaleader means you have to attend a lot of meetings. Zoom. Teams. In person. Meetings. Sometimes all day. Meetings you control. Meetings that others control. Meetings that have value. Meetings that don’t.

Meetings often feel like a necessary evil, clogging calendars and draining energy when they lack focus. Without a clear agenda, they can devolve into aimless discussions or rabbit trails that could have been avoided. The harsh truth? I think many meetings don’t need to happen at all. Draft a better email or teams message to convey information.

However, some meetings are unavoidable and are warranted especially when a human connection is needed. Tone and intent are often missed or misread in an email and hearing something from the individual makes the meeting worthwhile. But the absence of any preparation guarantees a meeting failure. Share an agenda in advance, if possible. Attendees can come prepared instead of just taking tasks back to their desk with them for later follow up.

Meetings are not always the same thing as collaboration. By demanding agendas, leading the discussion to the intended matters, leaders can minimize the meeting madness or boredom. Focus on results, and reclaim your team’s time for work that actually matters.

#Beingaleader means you have to attend a lot of meetings. Make them worthwhile.