The Easiest Way to Make Meetings Shorter

The Easiest Way to Make Meetings Shorter

I facilitated a couple of full-day meetings last week. In both, I implemented a simple process that made the discussions quicker and better. Try this structure to make your meetings shorter (and more effective). Why Meetings Are So Inefficient You’d need a page longer...
8 Alternatives to Having a Meeting

8 Alternatives to Having a Meeting

I love a good meeting, especially if its format is well-tailored to its content and purpose. But, wow, there are way too many meetings! Why is a meeting the default? There are a raft of topics that are better addressed (and progressed) using asynchronous or informal...
Six Reasons to Meet Without Your Boss Present

Six Reasons to Meet Without Your Boss Present

Most teams I work with meet regularly. The routine is usually the same: the team leader calls the meeting, owns the agenda, chairs the discussion, and gets what they need from the interaction. Occasionally, the boss is away, ill, or otherwise occupied. The question...
Dos and Don’ts of Different Meeting Types

Dos and Don’ts of Different Meeting Types

How many times a week do you complain about meetings? Too many, too long, too boring. Not worth it, not set up for success, not the right people? Wrong agenda, wrong participants, wrong tone? Unfortunately, there’s no Goldilocks answer to the perfect meeting because...
How to Adapt to Interruptions in Your Schedule

How to Adapt to Interruptions in Your Schedule

How To Adapt to Interruptions in Your Schedule You’ve optimized your schedule to get the most out of your time. (I’m imagining your color-coded calendar and prioritized to-do list—it’s a beauty!) You’ve removed distractions and enforced boundaries to stay on track...
How to Protect Your Time

How to Protect Your Time

Some days, it feels impossible to carve out time and mental space to get through your work tasks. Sure, you might have built a beautiful plan for your week, but it’s only noon on Tuesday, and that plan is out the window: interruptions, urgent requests, shifting...