Anyone who knows me knows I have little patience for meetings that lack purpose, collaboration, and a clear measurable goal. If a meeting doesn’t check all three boxes, then let’s be honest—an email should suffice.
Yet I’ve sat through countless executive meetings in my career that fail on all three fronts. Worse still, I’ve attended executive trainings that push the idea of daily, weekly, or monthly check-ins as if they’re the holy grail of productivity. In reality, these recurring meetings often devolve into little more than time-wasters disguised as accountability.
The truth is, not every update, alignment, or discussion warrants gathering a room full of people. Meetings should solve a problem, foster strategic brainstorming, or drive decisions that require real-time collaboration. Anything else? It’s better handled through more efficient communication methods.
Here are some red flags that your meeting might be unnecessary:
❌ No Clear Agenda: Without a structured purpose or discussion points, the meeting is likely a waste of time.
❌ Only One Person Talking: If it’s just one person lecturing, that’s not a meeting—it’s a monologue. Want an audience? Start a podcast.
❌ Key Decision-Makers Are Missing: Without the people needed to move things forward, what’s the point?
❌ Recurring Meetings for the Sake of It: Daily, weekly, or monthly check-ins often turn into box-ticking exercises, pretending to achieve accountability or progress.
❌ It Interrupts Focus Work: Meetings should solve problems—not create new ones by pulling people away from critical, high-priority tasks.
Meetings should be reserved for when real-time collaboration is essential, such as brainstorming solutions to complex challenges, aligning on urgent matters, or making pivotal decisions that require multiple perspectives. If it doesn’t meet these criteria, it’s time to ask if a meeting is truly the best use of time.
At Servicing Pros, we approach meetings with intention—focusing on efficiency and actionable outcomes. By cutting unnecessary gatherings, we free ourselves to deliver exceptional results for our clients.
Post created on 01/29/2025