In Defense of Purposeful Meetings: Why Eliminating All Meetings Isn't the Answer

It's a wildly unpopular take, but I am a big fan of a great meeting.

Every day, I see social media posts or get emails that say things like, "Eliminate all the meetings! Wipe all the meetings off the calendar!"

And here's what makes me nervous about that. While some meetings can be unproductive, eliminating all of them might not be the best solution. Instead, we should focus on making our meetings more purposeful and effective.

Over the past few years, when it comes to the work that I do in employee listening and engagement surveys, I've noticed a trend.

Employees are saying more frequently things like:

👉 "We don't have access to information."

👉 "We don't understand how decisions are made."

👉 "There are too many silos, and we feel like we're kept in isolation."

👉 "We don't know how things are connected."

And you know what can cure that?

Communication and alignment can be facilitated in a really great, purposeful meeting.

While I'm not an advocate for just putting meetings on the calendar for the sake of it, I want to emphasize the potential of purposeful meetings. We've thrown the baby out with the bath water just a little bit on this one, but purposeful meetings can be a beacon of hope in addressing employee concerns and improving communication.

And here's a free PDF download with questions to help further foster meaningful connections with your teamates! ⤵️

Click here to download this PDF called 30 Open-Ended Employee Engagement Questions. 🤝

Hey, thanks for being here and for watching/reading. My goal is to consistently create content that's engaging, applicable, and inspires you to continue learning and growing as a leader. If you have ideas for future content or any questions at all, please shoot me an email at: [email protected].