Meetings are a necessary part of work. They’re how we brainstorm, problem-solve, and move projects forward. But when your calendar starts to look like one big color block of calls—and you’ve only got one free hour in the day to actually get things done—they can quickly become a major time suck.
In fact, recent InHerSight data shows almost 40 percent of women say meetings very frequently take up more of their workday than they should, and another 27 percent say it happens pretty often.
So, what does it take to make a meeting actually feel worth it? According to our audience, the perfect meeting strikes a balance between clear purpose and space for authentic human connection. We spoke with workplace culture consultant Erica Aros for expert tips on making your meetings more purposeful, engaging, and efficient, so you can reclaim your time without sacrificing collaboration.
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4 things all great meetings have in common
Not all meetings are created equal, but the best ones tend to follow a few key rules. Whether you’re leading a quick check-in or a big-picture brainstorm, these four elements can make all the difference.
1. There’s a clear leader
For a meeting to be efficient and stay on topic, there needs to be a driver of the conversation. This leader should be responsible for setting the agenda, guiding discussions, managing time, and ensuring all voices are heard. They should open the meeting by clearly stating the purpose and goals, periodically check that the conversation stays on track, and actively encourage quieter team members to share their perspectives.
2. A draft agenda is shared ahead of time
Even in smaller collaborative or check-in meetings, sharing a simple bulleted agenda in a shared document can help participants stay focused and contribute meaningfully. For larger team or client meetings, a more detailed agenda outlining key discussion topics, questions, and decisions to be made should be sent out a few hours to a few days in advance. This gives everyone ample time to prepare and ensures the meeting runs smoothly. Be sure to clearly state the purpose of the meeting—whether it’s for decision-making, providing updates, communicating time-sensitive information, or something else.
“Providing a draft agenda to the group ahead of time allows participants to start thinking about the topics so they are ready to contribute to the discussion. This can also help accommodate different personality types and information processing styles,” Aros says. Giving people time to process allows more reflective thinkers or introverts to gather their thoughts in advance, rather than being put on the spot. It also supports neurodivergent team members who may benefit from structure or extra time to prepare.
3. Team connection is prioritized
Staying on topic during meetings shows respect for everyone’s time, but it’s equally important to leave some space for authentic connection. “I think leaders underestimate the power of facilitating team-building activities at the start of their meetings,” Aros says. “It could simply be a fun question that everyone answers or an energizing activity that gets people in a good mood. Meetings are opportunities for people to get to know each other better and build trust, so why not maximize the use of meetings by spending 5-10 minutes (and no more) getting everyone to connect with each other.”
Here are a few quick and effective team-building ideas:
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Two-word check-in: At the start of the meeting, ask each participant to share two words that describe how they’re feeling. This helps everyone quickly gauge the team’s mood.
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Rose, thorn, bud: Invite each person to share one positive (rose), one challenge (thorn), and one thing they’re looking forward to (bud).
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Rapid icebreaker question: Ask a fun, light question like, “If you could have any superpower today, what would it be?” or “What's one thing you’re looking forward to this week?”
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Gratitude shout-out: Encourage team members to give a quick shout-out to someone who helped them recently or went above and beyond.
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Mini poll or quiz: Use a quick poll (like a show of hands or a one-question survey) on a fun topic, like “Coffee or tea?” or “Morning person or night owl?”
“I've had team members in my office and students in my classrooms start off not liking the icebreakers and team-building activities, but over time, they realize how much it has positively impacted the team dynamic,” Aros says. “You would be surprised how doing this can transform moods and attitudes to create a positive environment.”
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4. There’s a written follow-up with action items
A productive meeting doesn’t end when the conversation wraps up, it continues through clear follow-up communication. For informal or smaller team meetings, a quick message recapping the discussion and outlining next steps can be enough. But for larger or more strategic meetings, it’s important to send a written summary within 24 hours that highlights key takeaways, decisions made, assigned action items, and deadlines. This helps keep everyone aligned and accountable and ensures important details don’t slip through the cracks.
Questions to ask yourself when drafting the follow-up:
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What were the main decisions or conclusions reached?
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Who is responsible for each action item?
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What are the deadlines or next check-in points?
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Are there any unresolved questions or topics to revisit?
5 tips for making meetings more efficient
No one wants to sit through a meeting that could’ve been an email. Keep these tips in mind to keep things on track, on time, and worth showing up for.
1. Ask yourself, ‘does this discussion require a meeting or could it be a message?’
One of our audience’s biggest gripes with meetings is that many could simply be an email or chat. “Leaders often have recurring meetings and don't consider canceling a meeting if there aren't any topics that require active discussion or brainstorming. This is one of the reasons we all know the saying, ‘this could have been an email,’” Aros says. “However, canceling meetings too often is another mistake, because it sets the expectation that meetings are likely to be canceled, and that can negatively impact motivation levels to attend those meetings.” Try to maintain a happy medium—be consistent in showing up and creating value in your meetings, but don’t hesitate to cancel or reschedule if there’s no clear purpose or agenda.
2. Lean into huddles and quick calls over 30 minute meetings
When we asked survey participants what would make meetings more efficient and productive, one respondent said, “Too many meetings are just status meetings where only about five minutes of every hour is actually relevant to me. Consider replacing status meetings with status reports and targeted 1:1 or small group meetings where an update is required or needs more lengthy discussion.” For quick, impromptu voice or video check-ins, try using the Huddle feature on Slack or Meet Now in Microsoft Teams, opt for a quick call, or even turn touchbases into walking chats.
3. Embrace technology to streamline productivity
With the right tools, you can automate agendas, assign tasks with clear ownership and deadlines, track action items in real-time, record discussions for easy review, and facilitate collaborative brainstorming using virtual whiteboards. Scheduling tools can also eliminate the back-and-forth of finding a meeting time, ensuring that everyone is on the same page without wasting time.
“I’m personally a fan of Google Workspace features,” Aros says. “For example, if you click on a meeting on your Google calendar, there’s an option to ‘create meeting notes.’ That creates a Google Doc that automatically generates a template for an agenda. Part of that agenda is a bulleted action items list with checkboxes. When you add a checklist item, you can assign that task to someone on your team, and it will send them an email notification of the task and a link to the agenda. If you’re the supervisor of the work that needs to get done, consider creating a reminder in your calendar to revisit the agenda and see what the progress of the action items list is.”
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4. Host a working meeting
Working meetings can help turn conversation into immediate action. Instead of leaving tasks hanging after a discussion, team members can make progress together, get instant feedback, and solve problems on the spot. “For example, if someone needs to draft a proposal, they can start doing it right then and there in the meeting so they can ask for input, get it done, and move it along to the next step,” Aros says. Just remember to plan for extra time—these meetings often run longer than traditional status updates but can save hours down the line by cutting out back-and-forth emails and delays.
5. Be mindful of everyone’s time
To respect everyone’s time, start by setting clear time limits for each agenda item and gently steer conversations back on track when they stray. Encourage participants to save off-topic ideas for follow-up emails or future meetings. If you're leading and find it hard to track time while facilitating, use a visible timer or assign a timekeeper to help keep things moving. In longer meetings, check in with the group periodically to see if you need to adjust the agenda or take a short break. Most importantly, always end on time.
Creating psychologically safe meetings
At the heart of a great meeting is psychological safety: the sense of comfort, trust, and security employees feel when expressing their thoughts, ideas, and concerns.
“Leaders have to be intentional about creating a safe space. It doesn't happen passively or naturally. Trust and safety must be built over time by providing opportunities for the team to learn about each other and think about each other as humans, not just as stakeholders or players in the workplace,” Aros says.
When asking for input, Aros recommends going around the room and offering each person a chance to speak. This structure helps ensure that everyone has space to contribute without being overshadowed by louder voices. Let people know it’s okay to pass, and avoid putting anyone on the spot unexpectedly. The goal is to create an environment where sharing feels like an open invitation, not a pressure-filled obligation.
Aros says establishing community agreements for recurring meetings can be helpful, too. These agreements are guidelines that set clear expectations for respectful communication and signal to employees that their thoughts can be shared without fear of retaliation or exposure.
“One example is to ‘take the lessons, leave the stories,’” she says. “This is what we say when we want to make sure confidentiality is maintained. It asks participants not to publicly share the details of what someone said, but they are welcome to share the lessons learned from the discussion.”
Lastly, it’s up to meeting leaders to model a culture of positive or neutral reactions and responses. Aros says, “If a leader shuts down ideas in a meeting or responds negatively to what someone says, the rest might follow suit, possibly resulting in a toxic meeting environment where participants do not feel safe to share their thoughts and ideas.”
Read more: 23 Phrases That Create Psychologically Safe Conversations at Work
