How Many Meetings a Day Is Too Many?
March 4, 2019

How Many Meetings a Day Is Too Many?

by Brian de Haaff

I once watched someone fall asleep in a meeting. It was early in my career and I was sitting in a quarterly business review. The organizer had scheduled one hour — but the meeting time bloated to more than three hours. Worse, it was after lunch. As the afternoon stretched on, I could hardly blame the sales colleague sitting next to me for briefly nodding off.

The scene is still playing out today, even more so. Because we are spending too much time in meetings.

In fact, researchers found that meetings in the workplace are now longer and more frequent than ever before. The average executive spends nearly 23 hours a week in scheduled meetings. Note that this study referenced “scheduled” meetings — we can probably tack on another 10 for impromptu calls.

I recently brought this up on LinkedIn by posing the question, “How many meetings a day is too many?” It must have hit a nerve because I was flooded with comments. Some folks answered my question with fixed numbers (ranging from two to seven hours) while others simply vented about how their workday was bloated with recurring meetings. Yet most everyone agreed on one thing.

When it comes to meetings, like most things, it is not the quantity that matters. It is the quality.

We spend as little time in meetings as possible at Aha! Yet I still find my schedule filling up fast. I expect this because of my role, but I do my best to align the meetings I attend with where I can add the most value. The key is knowing where the business most needs my attention and where I can best help the team. And I am comfortable gently saying no to almost everything else.

I realize that not everyone has this luxury. You might be thinking, “It would be great to decline every nonsense meeting invite that comes my way.” But you do not always have this control. Well, you do have some control. You can help improve the meetings you lead and regularly go to. At the most basic level, you should not have a meeting without an agenda.

Our team at Aha! recently rolled out a meeting agenda template internally to streamline the meetings that we do have. Our goal is to make sure the time we spend together is productive and results-oriented. We create a new agenda for each meeting and make it available to all participants in a shared note. This gives everyone the chance to see what is planned ahead of time and add any of their own content.

Below is an example of a meeting agenda template that you can copy and use with your own team. We suggest that you send it out at least four hours before your meeting begins:

Meeting title: _________________________ Meeting date: ________________________ Attendees: ___________________________

Action items from last week

Description

Person responsible

Due date










Updates on work in progress

Program

Status update







Challenges




Open questions




New action items to review at next week’s meeting

Description

Person responsible

Due date










You should also send out the notes and follow-up action items from the meeting within four hours of the meeting ending.

A clear agenda gives your meetings purpose — templates make it possible to operationalize for success.

Meetings should not be an annoying time-suck or the reason you cannot get your work done each day. They should be a time for teamwork and making progress. You can help make this happen by suggesting that each meeting starts with an agenda and ends with action items for moving forward.

If you do, you might find that you become less focused on your packed schedule and more focused on getting meaningful work done. And who knows, you might even have time for a lunch break.

How many meetings do you have every day — and how are you making them more productive?

Our team is happy, productive, and hiring — join us!

Brian de Haaff

Brian de Haaff

Brian seeks business and wilderness adventure. He is the co-founder and CEO of Aha! — the world’s #1 product development software — and the author of the bestseller Lovability and The Startup Adventure newsletter. Brian writes and speaks about product and company growth and the journey of pursuing a meaningful life.

Follow Aha!

Follow Brian

Related articles

The Best Cover Letters That CEOs Love to Read
April 13, 2017
The Best Cover Letters That CEOs Love to Read

A well-crafted cover letter is a great way to get noticed. Find out what to include in your cover letter to catch the attention of a CEO.

New Marketing Managers — Do These 8 Things in the First 30 Days
January 28, 2019
New Marketing Managers — Do These 8 Things in the First 30 Days

Are you a new marketing manager? Check out these suggestions from eight marketing experts on how to show your true value in your first 30 days.

The tragedy of 'good enough'
June 4, 2024
The tragedy of 'good enough'

Leaders create an environment that fosters continual improvement when they: 1. Hire for achievement. 2. Invest in training. 3. Keep raising the standard.

6 Characteristics of the Best Bootstrapped Businesses
July 19, 2022
6 Characteristics of the Best Bootstrapped Businesses

Founding and running a startup takes courage and conviction. Bootstrapping is a mindset that can also serve as an operating model for sustainable growth. These are the…