How to design meetings that move things forward (not waste your time)

I’ll never forget the first time I heard someone say, “This meeting could’ve been an email.” You can probably imagine exactly the voice they said it in (and what their face looked like). You’re probably heard it many times yourself. 

The meeting in question was a project check-in with multiple departments, where we’d spent an hour listening to one person giving an update that could have been written in a few bullet points. The rest of us just sat there, nodding along, waiting for it to end. No one really needed to speak, no one gave feedback, and no one asked any questions. As we all shuffled out, someone muttered, “Well, that was a waste of time,” and I couldn’t help but agree. The wasted hour likely meant I’d be working an extra hour that night with my laptop cracked open on my couch.

It got me thinking: Should we cancel these types of meetings altogether and just rely on email updates? What’s the point of meeting if it’s not helping anyone?

Ditch the conference room

One of the biggest misconceptions about meetings is that they always need to be in a formal conference room with a set agenda and an hour on the clock. In reality, the most effective meetings don’t always look like that, especially depending on your industry or the makeup of your team. 

For example, if you’re working in health care, manufacturing, or retail, your meetings might take the form of pre- or post-shift huddles. For teams that work remotely or across different time zones, you may turn instead to asynchronous communication methods, like shared documents or video updates, instead of meeting in real time. The key is to adapt your meeting style to the needs of your team.

But effective meetings aren’t just about planning; they’re also about how you engage with your team during them. This is where active listening becomes essential.

For managers, using the Pause-Consider-Act framework can help ensure your meetings are effective and purposeful. It’s all about stopping to think about the structure, content, and timing of your meetings.

1. Pause

Take a step back and assess your current meetings. Are they too frequent? Too far apart? Are you meeting with no real purpose? 

Look at your schedule and figure out where things might need to be adjusted. If you find your team members constantly knocking on your door or sending chat messages because they don’t have scheduled time with you, it’s a sign you might need more regular time with your team members.

2. Consider

Think about the purpose of each meeting. What are you trying to accomplish? For one-on-ones, the goal might be to check in on progress, provide feedback, or support your team member’s development. Team meetings could include brainstorming, decision-making, or updates. Be clear about what each meeting is for, and make sure your team knows what’s expected of them. 

Consider teammates’ perspective—do they feel like they’re too busy for the meeting? Are they feeling overwhelmed and just need more structure? Or do they feel like you already know everything and don’t see the need to communicate details? Looking at these angles, adjust your approach accordingly. (Remember that if you fear “overcommunicating,” that rarely happens. It’s more often the opposite: team members would love to hear more from you, not less.)

3. Act

Implement changes that make your meetings more structured and intentional. Use shared agendas to help your team prepare, and make sure you’re prepared, too. 

Show up on time, be present, and make sure your team walks away with clear action items. For example, if you’re setting up a one-on-one, include questions about workload, challenges, and opportunities for growth. Make these meetings actionable by leaving each one with the next steps for both you and your team members. Let them know their concerns have been heard, and show them how you’re going to support them moving forward.

Moving your meetings along

You don’t want people dreading a meeting invite—but some might be. Not to your face; more likely to each other, or quietly hoping it gets cancelled. That usually happens when meetings lack a clear purpose and feel like they exist just for the sake of existing. 

Every meeting should have a reason to get that specific group together. Sometimes it’s about business needs—sharing information, making decisions, solving problems. Other times it’s about something that’s equally important: building connection, and recognizing the humans doing the work.

When meetings have intention, they make work easier, not harder. They help people understand what matters, what’s expected of them, and how their work connects to everyone else’s. But that only happens when someone is deliberate about it, and that someone can be you. When you Pause to take a real look at the meetings you’re running, Consider what your team actually needs from that time together, and Act to structure (or restructure) them with purpose, you turn time spent into time invested. And sometimes the best compliment you’ll ever get as a manager will be someone walking out of the room saying, “That was actually a really good meeting.”

Adapted from The Manager Method: A Practical Framework to Lead, Support, and Get Results by Ashley Herd (Hay House Business, February 2026).