Building a Better Meeting Culture in 2024

The Meeting Epidemic

According to recent surveys, the average professional spends 23 hours per week in meetings. That's more than half a typical work week. And here's the kicker: most people rate only about 50% of those meetings as productive.

Let's fix that.

Principle 1: Default to No

The first step to better meeting culture is questioning whether a meeting is needed at all. Before scheduling, ask:

If you can't clearly articulate why real-time conversation is necessary, it probably isn't.

Principle 2: Shorter is Better

Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time available. Meetings are no exception.

Try these defaults:

The shortened time creates urgency and focus.

Principle 3: Agendas are Non-Negotiable

No agenda, no meeting. It's that simple.

A good agenda includes:

Tools like MochiMeet's Quick Brief help by capturing the agenda *before* the meeting is even booked.

Principle 4: End with Actions

Every meeting should end with clear next steps:

If you can't answer these questions, the meeting wasn't productive.

Principle 5: Protect Focus Time

Block out chunks of your calendar for deep work. Treat these blocks as sacred as any important meeting.

Many successful teams implement "No Meeting Wednesdays" or similar policies to ensure everyone has protected time for focused work.

The Compound Effect

Individually, these principles might save you 30 minutes a day. That's 10+ hours a month. Over a year, that's nearly four full work weeks.

What would you do with an extra month of productive time?

Start by implementing just one principle this week. Then add another. Small changes compound into dramatic results.