Optimizing Meeting Productivity

In April I sent a company-wide note with the subject line “I hate meetings.” Unsurprisingly, it’s our most-read internal communication to date. My message was simple: meetings can be incredibly effective when done right, but we’ve all adopted some bad habits when it comes to using our time – and our colleagues’ time – wisely.   After soliciting feedback from colleagues around the world through polling, group discussions and direct outreach, I shared our first round of meeting-focused updates:   ✔ Default meeting lengths in Outlook would now be 20- and 40-minute blocks, as opposed to 30 and 60 minutes. ✔ Pre-reads should be utilized more, prepared in a thoughtful way and sent at least 24 hours in advance. ✔ Even when the purpose of a meeting is clear, agendas matter! We should get in the habit of creating clear and concise agendas for all meetings, regardless of length. ✔ Less technical, but just as important: when considering a meeting, ask yourself – can this be done another way (e.g., e-mail, phone call, walk down the hall for an in-person discussion)? If a meeting is required, when considering participants ask yourself who really needs to take part. In the first month, total meetings per week dropped by ~1,800, and total audio minutes per week dropped by ~15%; that’s 282,280 minutes, or more than 4,700 hours. Stating the obvious, that’s rapid culture change. And while things have normalized a bit (at least, until our next round of updates), we’re still seeing a downward trend. Are these groundbreaking ideas for how to become a more efficient and effective organization? No, but they don’t have to be. Sometimes it’s as simple as 1) reminding people that we don’t have to operate a certain way because “that’s how we’ve always done things,” and 2) encouraging ownership of our time, the most valuable commodity we have. #CompanyCulture #TimeManagement #WorkSmarter

Stop wasting meetings! Too many meetings leave people unheard, disengaged, or overwhelmed. The best teams know that inclusion isn’t accidental—it’s designed. 🔹 Here are 6 simple but powerful practices to transform your meetings: 💡 Silent Brainstorm Before discussion begins, have participants write down their ideas privately (on sticky notes, a shared document, or an online board). This prevents groupthink, ensures introverted team members have space to contribute, and brings out more original ideas. 💡 Perspective Swap Assign participants a different stakeholder’s viewpoint (e.g., a customer, a frontline employee, or an opposing team). Challenge them to argue from that perspective, helping teams step outside their biases and build empathy-driven solutions. 💡 Pause and Reflect Instead of jumping into responses, introduce intentional pauses in the discussion. Give people 30-60 seconds of silence before answering a question or making a decision. This allows for deeper thinking, more thoughtful contributions, and space for those who need time to process. 💡 Step Up/Step Back Before starting, set an expectation: those who usually talk a lot should "step back," and quieter voices should "step up." You can track participation or invite people directly, helping create a more balanced conversation. 💡 What’s Missing? At the end of the discussion, ask: "Whose perspective have we not considered?" This simple question challenges blind spots, uncovers overlooked insights, and reinforces the importance of diverse viewpoints in decision-making. 💡 Constructive Dissent Voting Instead of just asking for agreement, give participants colored cards or digital indicators to show their stance: 🟢 Green – I fully agree 🟡 Yellow – I have concerns/questions 🔴 Red – I disagree Focus discussion on yellow and red responses, ensuring that dissenting voices are explored rather than silenced. This builds a culture where challenging ideas is seen as valuable, not risky. Which one would you like to try in your next meeting?  Let me know in the comments! 🔔 Follow me to learn more about building inclusive, high-performing teams. __________________________ 🌟 Hi there! I’m Susanna, an accredited Fearless Organization Scan Practitioner with 10+ years of experience in workplace inclusion. I help companies build inclusive cultures where diverse, high-performing teams thrive with psychological safety. Let’s unlock your team’s full potential together!

Want more productive workshops? Try stopping them sooner. Workshops often lock people in a room for two or three hours and expect them to do their best thinking on demand. Do we really have to hold people hostage to be productive? Lately, I’ve been using a technique I call "Echo Sessions." Instead of forcing deep work to happen in real time, we kickstart an activity, get clarity, but then stop just as people are getting into it. That pause is intentional. It’s based on the same principle as the Pomodoro technique—when you leave something unfinished while still feeling engaged, you'll find it easy to return to it later and give it space to percolate. Instead of dragging out a long workshop, I schedule an Echo Session later—often in the same day—where everyone brings their independent or small group work back for discussion, iteration, and action. Why does this work? ✅ Encourages Deep Work – People get time to think, research, or create in their own way, rather than being forced into artificial collaboration. ✅ Optimizes Meeting Time – Workshops should be for shared understanding, decision-making, and iteration—not for quiet focus time. ✅ Respects Different Work Styles – Some need time to walk and think. Others need to sketch. Some want to research or tap into AI. Echo Sessions give people time and space to work in the way that’s best for them. ✅ Creates Natural Momentum – Stopping at a high-energy moment makes people want to continue later, giving them space to create, rather than leaving them drained from a marathon session. ✅ Reduces Calendar Lockdowns – Instead of monopolizing hours at a time, work is distributed more effectively and meetings are only used when necessary. Most importantly, this approach treats participants like adults. It gives them flexibility and agency while ensuring that meetings serve a clear, valuable purpose. We don’t need long workshops. We need better workshops. Curious—how do you approach workshop fatigue? Would this work in your team?

The worst meetings aren't the ones that run long. They're the ones that accomplish nothing in exactly the time allocated. These meetings covertly waste time. But nobody notices that until three more meetings have to be scheduled as follow ups. Most leaders design meetings around activities, not outcomes. They schedule "alignment sessions" instead of "decide on Q4 resource allocation by Thursday." I see this pattern regularly with executives: The VP who runs "strategy discussions" that circle the same three topics for six weeks. The founder who calls "team brainstorms" without defining success criteria. The executive whose "quarterly planning sessions" generate 47 action items but zero clear deadlines. The fix isn't better facilitation. It's meeting architecture that forces outcomes. ➡️ Step 1: Get clear on the goal Complete this sentence before scheduling: "This meeting succeeds if we [specific outcome] by [time]." Not "discuss the budget." Instead: "approve the Q1 budget allocation between marketing and product by 4pm." ➡️ Step 2: Match the agenda to the goal Design your agenda backward from the decision point. For a budget approval meeting: 🔷 5 min: Review decision criteria 🔷 20 min: Present options with projections 🔷 15 min: Test against criteria 🔷 10 min: Make the decision 🔷 10 min: Lock next steps with owners and deadlines Most agendas are topic lists. This is a decision-making machine where every item serves the outcome. ➡️ Step 3: Decide how you'll decide Clarify the decision-maker in the calendar invite. Open by saying: "We're here to decide [outcome]. [Name] will decide after getting input from everyone here." This eliminates the circling meeting cascade. The executives who use this framework cut weekly meeting time dramatically. More importantly, their teams stop treating meetings as theater and start treating them as work. 🔖 Look at your calendar for this week: which meeting would benefit most from this framework? 

I spent 2.5 hours prepping for a single meeting today Here's why 'obsessive meeting prep' is worth every minute: Remote teams need anchors. Our weekly standup is the only time we ALL come together. Great meeting? We're off to a flyer week. Poor meeting? Everyone's stuck & lost & unmotivated. A few principles I've learned along the way... 1. have you done your homework? - pre-work is a *multiplier* - agenda goes out 24h in advance - everyone completes the standup doc before we meet - no surprises = maximum impact 2. who owns it? - I'm ultimately responsible for the standup - clear accountability = better outcomes - every task + decision + project gets assigned an owner (organized on Notion, ofc!) - no room for "someone should..." 3. are we still solving the right problems? - what worked 3 months ago might not work now - weekly pulse check: is this meeting serving its purpose? - adapt or die (dramatic, but true in startup world!) - kill what's not working, double down on what is 4. how might we be more transparent? - share ALL key metrics (from partnerships to sales to revenue to subscriber growth) - everyone sees the FULL picture: • what's crushing it • what's struggling • what needs attention - transparency breeds ownership - and ownership breeds a bias for action 5. have we made enough time for reflection? - our "done" list is sacred - startups move so fast, it's easy to skip the progress for the 'next' thing - but momentum + morale is built in reflecting - make space to say "WOOOOOOW, we did that!" Somewhere along the way it feels like 'meetings for meetings-sake' became the norm. But I'm here for the obsessive meeting: one that's prepped, thoughtful, respectful of everyone's time (and screentime!) and yes, ultimately productive. What do you think? How many hours a day do you spend in meetings? How strong are they? Lets swap notes? What's your fave meeting principles? See ya soon Emily, Ece, Lindsey, Nikita!! PS: I left 'get the uncontrollable giggling out of everyone's system in the first 3 mins so we can settle in and focus 😉 ♻️ repost to advocate for more thoughtful meetings

How to make your meetings 100x better: • Before each meeting, decide on the desired outcome. What needs to be happen by the end of this call? • The organizer should share an agenda at least 24h prior. Each item should have a clear purpose: – To discuss – To decide – To inform – To align • One person should always drive the meeting and be responsible for keeping everyone on time, on topic, and accountable. • If something can be achieved asynchronously (email, Loom, Google Docs), cancel the meeting, always. • Limit the number of participants in the meeting. If it's not clear whether someone should attend, leave them off and send them the Granola notes after. • Avoid recurring or standing meetings. Most of the time, "fake" work is created to fill time for the purpose of looking productive. • Default to 25-minute meetings. It instills focus and gives everyone a breather before the next one. • Disagreement is the most valuable thing that can happen in a meeting. When everyone agrees, no value is created. Instead, the person driving the meeting should nurture productive debate if it comes up. • Start the meeting by sharing data and insights, not anecdotes. This gives everyone a common starting point from which they can form their point of view. • Practice radical transparency by recording, transcribing, and documenting everything to be sent out over (easier than ever now!) • End every meeting with clear decisions and action items. No takeaways = wasted time. These are some of the things I've learned from my time at Google, Meta, and now Fibe. I hope it helps!

For over 20 years, I’ve coached Fortune 500 CEOs. Along the way, I’ve sat in thousands of meetings, boardrooms, off-sites, and virtual calls that should have been emails. Here’s what I’ve learned: most meetings fail before they even start. Not because people aren’t smart or the agenda is wrong. Because the collaboration happens in the wrong place. Here are four shifts that will transform how your team meets. 1. Move the debate before the meeting. The best teams don’t show up to learn and debate for the first time. They show up having already been briefed and weighed in asynchronously, in shared documents, with real thinking on the table. The meeting becomes a decision room. 2. Shrink the room. Not everyone needs to be there. If someone’s contribution is already captured in the pre-work, free them. Smaller rooms move faster. They also talk more honestly. 3. Assign dissent. Consensus is comfortable, but it’s also dangerous. The highest-performing teams I’ve coached assign the team to provide challenges. Not to be difficult, but to make the final decision stronger. 4. End with commitments, not summaries. Most meetings end with a recap of what was said. That’s useless. End with who owns what and by when. Clarity beats closure. If you do these four things, your meetings won’t just feel better. They’ll actually produce results.

Anyone else suffer from meeting overload? It’s a big deal. Simply put too many meetings means less time available for actual work, plus constantly attending meetings can be mentally draining, and often they simply are not required to accomplish the agenda items. At the same time sometimes it’s unavoidable. No matter where you are in your career, here are a few ways that I tackle this topic so that I can be my best and hold myself accountable to how my time is spent. I take 15 minutes every Friday to look at the week ahead and what is on my calendar. I follow these tips to ensure what is on the calendar should be and that I’m prepared. It ensures that I have a relevant and focused communications approach, and enables me to focus on optimizing productivity, outcomes and impact. 1. Review the meeting agenda. If there’s no agenda I send an email asking for one so you know exactly what you need to prepare for, and can ensure your time is correctly prioritized. You may discover you’re actually not the correct person to even attend. If it’s your meeting, set an agenda because accountability goes both ways. 2. Define desired outcomes. What do you want/need from the meeting to enable you to move forward? Be clear about it with participants so you can work collaboratively towards the goal in the time allotted. 3. Confirm you need the meeting. Meetings should be used for difficult or complex discussions, relationship building, and other topics that can get lost in text-based exchanges. A lot of times though we schedule meetings that we don’t actually require a meeting to accomplish the task at hand. Give ourselves and others back time and get the work done without that meeting. 4. Shorten the meeting duration. Can you cut 15 minutes off your meeting? How about 5? I cut 15 minutes off some of my recurring meetings a month ago. That’s 3 hours back in a week I now have to redirect to high impact work. While you’re at it, do you even need all those recurring meetings? It’s never too early for a calendar spring cleaning. 5. Use meetings for discussion topics, not FYIs. I save a lot of time here. We don’t need to speak to go through FYIs (!) 6. Send a pre-read. The best meetings are when we all prepare for a meaningful conversation. If the topic is a meaty one, send a pre-read so participants arrive with a common foundation on the topic and you can all jump straight into the discussion and objectives at hand. 7. Decline a meeting. There’s nothing wrong with declining. Perhaps you’re not the right person to attend, or there is already another team member participating, or you don’t have bandwidth to prepare. Whatever the reason, saying no is ok. What actions do you take to ensure the meetings on your calendar are where you should spend your time? It’s a big topic that we can all benefit from, please share your tips in the comments ⤵️ #careertips #productivity #futureofwork

Most meetings don’t fail in the room. They fail before they start… and after they end. A meeting is not a 60-minute calendar block. It’s a process with 3 stages: Before. During. After. If you fix these, meetings become productive instead of performative. 1. Start with a written purpose (Before) If the meeting objective cannot be written in one clear sentence, cancel it. Bad: “Let’s discuss the project.” Good: “By the end, we will decide X and assign ownership for Y.” No purpose = no meeting. 2. Invite only owners, not spectators (Before) Meetings are not webinars. If someone is not: Deciding Contributing critical input Owning an action They don’t need to be there. Fewer people = faster decisions. 3. Share material in advance (Before) Meetings are for discussion and decisions, not silent reading. If people are seeing slides for the first time in the meeting, you’ve already lost half the time. Send pre-reads. Expect people to come prepared. 4. Run the meeting like a decision factory (During) Every agenda item must end in one of three outcomes: Decision made Action assigned (with owner + deadline) Explicitly parked If conversation is interesting but going nowhere, park it. Meetings are not thinking-out-loud therapy sessions. 5. Close the loop fast (After) The real work starts when the meeting ends. Within 24 hours, share: Decisions taken Actions, owners, deadlines What was parked If follow-ups are not tracked, meetings are just expensive conversations. A good meeting starts before the meeting and ends long after it. Preparation creates clarity. Follow-up creates results. Everything in between is just facilitation. Are you running or ruining your meetings? Which one of these tips makes most sense to you? ++++ I try to share practical, direct, no “cute crap" work/career tips. Follow me at Anshuman Tiwari and press the bell icon twice on my profile to get notifications when I post.

Want to know why most meetings are a complete waste of time? 🟢 Here are 7 best practices that actually work: 1. Set a clear agenda (24h before) → Share it with everyone → Include time slots for each topic 2. Keep it short (30min max) → Start on time → End on time → No exceptions 3. Invite only key players → Decision makers → Direct contributors → No "nice to have" attendees 4. Assign roles upfront → Meeting leader → Note taker → Timekeeper 5. No devices allowed → Phones away → Laptops closed → Full attention required 6. Follow the "2-minute rule" → If someone talks for more than 2 minutes → Politely interrupt → Keep discussions focused 7. End with clear action items → Who does what → Due dates → Follow-up schedule I've implemented these in my company for 3 years now. Result? • 85% higher team satisfaction • 100% better outcomes • 60% fewer meetings The secret? Consistency. You can't do this sometimes. You must do it EVERY single time. No shortcuts. No exceptions. Just results. Try these for a month. Watch your team's productivity surge. P.S. What's your biggest meeting pain point? Share below. 👇 #team #meetings #employees #productive