9 Tips To Help You Reduce Meetings And Take Back Your Work Calendar

At Nectar, we recently released statistics about workplace connection, which shared the importance of connection and how frequently companies host meetings. We know meetings are essential to building healthy workplace relationships, but sometimes our calendars get stuffed with plans that just don't make sense.

We've all had meetings that didn't work out how we wanted them to. After spending time preparing for an event on our calendar, we realize five minutes in that it was unnecessary. Whether the event could have been an email or we weren't needed for the meeting, unnecessary calendar events can cause conflict in the workplace.

If you're struggling with an abundance of meetings and not enough time to get deep work done, it's time to set some work boundaries and build a better meeting system. We talked with company leaders to get some tips on how they manage their calendars. Whether you are an individual contributor or a department head, these tips will help you become a more productive employee.

How Expensive Is Your Meeting?

Before we dive into tips for reducing meetings, it's crucial to understand their cost and why hosting valuable sessions is important. 

Let’s say you have three employees attending a meeting:

• Carly makes $25 an hour.
• Shay makes $30 an hour.
• Ray makes $35 an hour.

If you have an hour meeting, the company has spent $90 to host it. Sometimes that $90 is worth it because it helps these three bond/work better together, clarifies a difficult project, or provides some action that gives the company more than $90 in return.

But, what if Shay spent most of the meeting silent or daydreaming because she didn't truly need to be there for the meeting to be productive? The company could have easily paid $60 for this meeting, and Shay could have focused on something more meaningful. 

When you are in an unproductive meeting, where would your time have been better spent? How is preparing for that unnecessary meeting eating into other parts of your day? Hourly rates are a great way to quantify the cost of a meeting, but it only tells part of the story.

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9 Helpful Strategies That Will Reduce Meetings

So, what can companies and employees do to reduce meetings at work? Here are nine expert-backed tips to help you out:

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1. Create Meeting Standards As An Organization

It's not possible to curb meetings altogether. Some huddles are genuinely helpful for organizations of all sizes. But, companies need to take steps to prevent meeting overload. Employees can tweak their schedules, but things will only change if the company is dedicated to it.

So, what does this look like in practice? Make a meeting handbook as an organization. Consider the following questions when creating your best practices:

What Meetings Do We Require As An Organization?

• How long should each of these required sessions be?
• Should we reevaluate the use of these meetings? If so, when?
• Who is in charge of these events?
• How will we set the agenda for these meetings?

What Gatherings Might The Team Need To Hold Outside Of Mandatory Sessions?

• How do we determine who is added to these events?
• How long should these sessions be?
• What requirements do we have around setting agendas?
• How can we help employees protect their time when they feel their presence is unwarranted?

Creating meeting guidelines and sharing them with the entire organization is a great place to start. If the company is on board with curbing meetings, employees feel more comfortable using the following steps individually.

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2. Learn To Say “No” To Meeting Requests

Whether you're an individual contributor or a manager with ten direct reports, you've probably had a meeting plopped on your calendar with little context. Often we go to these meetings that disrupt our flow and make us abruptly change our plans. But what if we just said no instead?

“My primary tip is to promote a culture where it's okay to say no to meeting requests that don't require a team or don't serve a purpose that can't be actioned via an email or one-to-one discussion away from a meeting location (or remote call),” shares Wendy Makinson, HR Manager at Joloda Hydraroll.

It's important for colleagues who want to meet with you or your team to do more than add time to your calendar. Follow up with additional questions to ensure you attend a meeting, not an extended email thread.

“It's crucial that you schedule required meetings and stick to this approach to declining any meeting requests that don't pass the “serve an obvious purpose” test to protect your working time throughout the day, and ultimately the productivity of your teams,” Makinson continues.

Declining a calendar event can be challenging, but it doesn't have to be personal. Before you decline, send a simple message to understand what that person wants:

"Thank you for putting some time on my calendar. Deep work is important to me, so I'm selective with how I approach my calendar. Can you send me a more detailed overview of what you want to accomplish during this meeting? If this is meeting-worthy, we will keep the time you've proposed. If it's not, I can send you what I know via email or Slack."

Once you understand that person's intentions, it will be easy to determine how to sort their calendar request.

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3. Keep Meetings Voluntary And On-Topic

As employees seek out new positions, they often look for more time to do their work instead of talking about doing it.

“Endless meetings are a common complaint from people looking for a new position. A continuous stream of check-ins is unproductive and disruptive to their workflow. As a small business owner, this has made me think twice about my own practices,” adds Linn Atiyeh, CEO at Bemana.

Whether you work in a small business or a large corporation, you can create a better work environment by making meetings optional. According to Atiyeh, this practice is more complex, but it can be done with some strategic planning and a new idea of what a successful meeting looks like (Hint: It's not the number of employees who show up.)

“One big change I've made is making meetings optional,” shares Atiyeh, “Allowing team members to decide which meetings are beneficial means that sometimes it's just me and one or two employees, but I've found that it winds up being a more effective use of our time. This requires planning an agenda ahead of time. Don't go into meetings without a good idea of what's going to be discussed. Then, give your employees the freedom to decide: they'll take the opportunity when they truly have something valuable to add to the topic at hand.”

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4. Have Everyone Stand During Meetings

Meetings can often become unproductive because employees spend time distracted by their computers/phones or having side conversations. The answer to distractions might be to strip your sessions down, keep them short, and stand up.

“One tip for reducing unnecessary meetings in the workplace is to have everyone stand during meetings,” Mariusz Michalowski, Community and Career Expert at Spacelift, advises, “It encourages people to focus on the issue at hand and stay engaged. While preventing excessive discussion, standing can be uncomfortable for most people if the meeting lasts too long.”

On top of making your meetings run more efficiently, standing can be great for employees (especially office workers.) Many office workers spend a lot of time sitting down. According to the Bureau Of Labor Statistics, some knowledge workers, like computer programmers, can spend 95.7% of their workday sitting.

Every meeting doesn't have to be standing, but it might be suitable for impromptu events, one-on-ones, or quick check-ins.

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5. Recognize Employees Who Understand The Importance Of Valuable Meetings

Employee recognition can be a fantastic way to encourage employee behaviors. When you see a colleague going above and beyond to create meetings that matter, recognizing that behavior can be a simple way to ensure that person continues that behavior while encouraging other coworkers to do the same.

For example, maybe you attended a meeting with Carly to discuss your company's new logo. Taking a few minutes to shoutout how Carly helped you prepare for the meeting in advance can help her feel appreciated and make her more likely to host similar meetings in the future:

I went to a meeting that Carly hosted today. The meeting was well-organized, and I got my agenda late last week, so I knew the discussion topics in advance. Her preparation made the session easy to attend, and we got a ton of work done on our company's new logo.

If employee recognition is important to you, you can invest in a tool like Nectar to help you create a company-wide recognition and rewards program. Every employee is given a number of points they can use to recognize their team each month. Once an employee receives a shoutout, they can use those points attached to redeem rewards like gift cards, company swag, Amazon items, and even custom rewards like an extra day of PTO.

According to a survey we did on employee recognition, a whopping 77.9% of employees would be more productive if they were recognized more frequently. Why not start by showing appreciation for the meeting habits that your team has?

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6. Decrease Meetings, Increase Collaboration

Unfortunately, more meetings don't always equate to more collaboration. Often companies invest in huddles because they think it will give employees more time to work together, but that's not always the case. If collaboration is important, it might be time to rethink your meeting strategy.

“Establishing clear communication is one essential tip for reducing unnecessary meetings in the workplace. Using a business chat platform, such as Slack or ZoomChat, can help streamline team conversations and discussions without the need to have an all-hands meeting,” suggests Grace He, People and Culture Director at TeamBuilding, “This will not only decrease interruption of productive work but also allow managers and employees to stay connected while eliminating meetings that lack purposeful agendas."

Outside of using a chat feature, you can also focus on building a better collaboration process. For example, many companies utilize brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas. Unfortunately, these meetings are often a waste of time because most employees don't think well on the fly. Smart companies create an agenda before each brainstorming session and tell employees what they'll be thinking about beforehand. As a result, better ideas are generated, employees have fun contributing, and everyone is happier with what was accomplished during the meeting.

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7. Invite Only The Necessary Personnel To Each Meeting

If you're reading this article, you've probably attended a meeting you weren't required for. It might be worth it if more people meant more voices, but that's usually not the case. Ultimately many employees will zone out, and their presence won't add much to the conversation. So, instead of inviting everyone in your company, what can you do instead?

Benjamin Okyere, Founder and CTO at Stress Reliever, believes he has a great solution:

“A great tip for reducing unnecessary meetings in the workplace is to ensure that only the most necessary personnel are included in each gathering. Ask if there are people who could provide valuable feedback or contribute important input, and if not, invite fewer people into the meeting.”

As you set up a panel, ask yourself, "Who is the best person (or people) to talk with about this topic?" To ensure the right people are in the room, send a quick message to the people you are considering. Can they think of anyone who has to be there? Once you know who should be in the room, send the invite.

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8. Send Surveys Instead

Another meeting format that can be tricky for companies is ensuring employees are informed about updates like policy changes. These meetings can be super expensive because you gather many people in a room to get a few head nods and confirmation that the update was heard. On top of that, head nods and hand raises aren't always the best way to get confirmation. Your team will likely do what everyone else does, even if they've been zoned out during the discussion. No one wants to be the odd person out.

There is a simpler way to ensure that employees are aware of updates. Jarir Mallah, HR Specialist at Ling App, suggests the following quick fix:

“If the purpose of a meeting is to simply share or update information, consider sending out a survey where readers must click "I have read and understood this," thereby acknowledging that they have done just that. It's a simple and easy way to disseminate information, and the uptake will be more efficient than in a meeting.”

You can also consider discussing these updates during meetings that are already scheduled. For instance, you can ask company leaders to share updates during department meetings.

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9. Perform A Complete Meeting Reboot

When you set up a meeting, do you keep it on your calendar forever? It might be time to reassess and ensure that arrangement still works for you and the people you work with.

Anna Barnhill, MA, PCC, CEO at Barnhill Group Consulting, shares the following advice:

“To alleviate this chronic meeting overwhelm, get into the habit of doing a complete meeting reboot every six months. To do that, delete 100% of the recurring and status update meetings from your calendar and don't add them back for at least two weeks.”

Once you've stripped your calendar of recurring meetings, the most critical step is the evaluation period:

"After the break, reevaluate if any of those meetings need to be brought back in. If the majority of attendees are proactively requesting the meeting, then reinstate it with intention and purpose. In reality, you will be surprised by the number of meetings that were non-value added and the time your team will free up for more collaboration and creativity."

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What To Do Instead Of Holding Meetings

If you've decided that running another meeting isn't for you, what's the alternative? There are a few meeting substitutes that you can consider. Ultimately, investing in an asynchronous communication technique will allow you and your colleagues to better fit important updates into your daily life.

• Send an email
• Have a direct message thread in Slack/Microsoft Teams
• Record a video via Loom
• Use a project management tool like Notion or Asana
• Create a work update template for employees to fill out

Conclusion

Meetings can be great for the work environment. These work gatherings give you and your colleagues a chance to connect, get work done, and collaborate. But, if you have too many meetings on your calendar, it can be impossible to get deep work done, which is where you'll find the most success in your career.

If you notice that schedules at your company are getting plagued with meetings, try some of these strategies as a company and individually to help everyone take back their time and work productively.