The purpose of meetings is for people to come together to create shared value – this could mean discussing ideas for organizational changes, improving communications or creating family rules. I have a hunch that, a few times in your career, you’ve attended a bad meeting and maybe even hosted one or two. Why is so much of our time, energy and genius sucked-up by meetings that suck? Here seven ways to make meetings more awesome.

30 minutes or less

Really think about why a meeting needs to be longer than 30 minutes. In my experience, most meetings can be achieved in 20 minutes, which gives a nice buffer for reflecting on the experience you just had and preparing for the next one. Compressing time enhances creativity, productivity and can make meetings better, too.

Agenda always

Meetings are crafty because they seem to last for as long as we schedule them – if we time for an hour then it usually takes about that long to wrap up. In addition to being stingy with time, also create an agenda for every meeting you host and never accept a meeting that doesn’t have an agenda.

Adaptable structure

While structure is important, being flexible with how the agenda unfolds is highly engaging for participants and hosts alike. We’ve all been in team meetings where the host fails to read the room – he wants to talk about a new travel policy, but everyone else wants an update on structure changes to the division. Adapting the structure of your meetings can be achieved with some simple actions, such as rotating the chair role (new hosts bring new perspectives) or routinely asking “what else is on peoples’ minds?” and then adding those questions or needs to the agenda.

Check-in

Begin every meeting with intention so that the participants are not only on the same page but are also sharing the same energy. Whether someone leads a short presencing exercise or asks folks to share something for which they’re grateful, connecting with each other in this way opens neural pathways in our brains and lays some foundational pieces for meeting-accelerators like psychological safety and creativity.

Quiet the louds

For as long as I can remember I have loved going to meetings. Especially unstructured and directionless ones. As humanity’s unofficial King of the Extroverts, I have a knack for filling the space where an agenda should be with my agenda and feel confident to jump in at any time to share my point of view because I am really good at talking. Rarely does this behaviour contribute to the purpose of a meeting or create a positive outcome, which is why I am focusing so much of my growth on being quieter, more curious and more inclusive. Whether you do it through structure (reflection through journaling or brainstorming with post-it notes) or masterful facilitation (“John, thanks for sharing again, we’re going to hear from Sam and Mike first and then come back to you if there’s time”).

Close with purpose

Meetings should end with next steps – ideally better ones than “let’s have another meeting.” I’m not the biggest fan of meeting minutes, as they take a lot of effort for the value that they bring. Our team has recently decided that if folks miss a meeting then it is up to them to find a member of the team who was there and get a quick download about important information shared or key takeaways for the team. If you capture anything, capture the key takeaways or actions that are the most important for everyone. Meeting members are also expected to view the experience through the eyes of colleagues who aren’t there, which helps to mitigate bias as well as create a deeper sense of understanding for the group’s entire portfolio of work.

Check-out

Ending a meeting with a simple reflective exercise helps the host determine where the participants are at as well as evaluate how well the meeting’s goals were achieved (or not). Checking out also helps participants make a more personal connection to what they experienced. I like to wrap things up by having everyone share one word that captures where they’re at, how they’re feeling, what they learned, or what they will tell others about the experience. What’s the one most important takeaway from this article for you?