Effective meetings: how to make them really work

Meetings, often perceived as a necessary evil, can become a powerful tool if managed with care and strategy. They interrupt concentration and cost precious time, but if used properly they can accelerate decision-making processes and foster collaboration. Every professional knows that meetings can be detrimental to productivity: they break the workflow and force continuous context switches, but they remain indispensable when it is necessary to discuss ideas quickly, align the team, or address delicate topics. In these cases, nothing is more effective than a direct conversation to resolve problems or make decisions.

Before calling a meeting, it is worth asking a fundamental question: is this meeting truly necessary? Paul Graham, in his well-known essay on the maker’s schedule versus the manager’s schedule, observed that a single meeting can destroy an entire morning of deep work for someone who creates, because the time of technical and creative professionals organizes itself into long, indivisible blocks, while the time of those who manage is structured in one-hour slots. A meeting in the middle of the day is not a cost of one hour, but often the cost of an entire concentration session. This means the decision to call a meeting should be deliberate and conscious. Very often a message on Slack, an email with a precise question, or a shared document where people can add comments asynchronously solves the problem at a much lower cost. Meetings work best when immediate back-and-forth is required, when the variables are too many to be managed in writing, or when the relational dimension of dialogue is part of the outcome itself. Imagine having to wait days for answers to crucial questions that require the simultaneous input of five people: the process would be extremely slow, and in that case the meeting is the right choice. Moreover, calling a meeting often pushes people to act before the scheduled time, since no one wants to show up unprepared. Sometimes just raising the prospect of a meeting is enough to get the desired results, because the simple idea of having to participate pushes collaborators to complete their work in advance.

Before the meeting

Preparation is the key to an effective meeting. Start by carefully choosing participants: invite only those essential to achieve the set goal, because every additional person without a clear role represents a cost in terms of time and resources. Once the group is defined, establish the meeting’s objective and prepare a clear and concise agenda, which can be shared in advance to help everyone arrive prepared. Ensure you have all useful information and materials to support the discussion: preparing data, slides, or reports avoids improvisations and makes the meeting smoother and more effective.

In the context of remote and hybrid teams, this phase requires additional attention. Those participating remotely must have access to the same materials in advance, the video call link must be sent well ahead of time, and the time zones of all participants must be verified explicitly. A hybrid meeting, where some people are in the room and others are connected from home, introduces subtle but relevant asymmetries: those present in person tend to dominate the flow of conversation naturally, while those connected remotely struggle to join in. The person conducting the meeting must compensate for this asymmetry by explicitly calling on remote participants during discussion phases.

During the meeting

The person conducting the meeting has the task of guiding the group towards a clear objective. Greet participants with a brief welcome, establish expectations for the meeting by specifying timeframes and objectives, and introduce the agenda by reminding everyone why the meeting was called. During the discussion, keep the focus on the main points and monitor time: if someone dwells too long or deviates from the topic, bring them back gently to the center of the discourse. Moderation requires balance, because you must ensure that everyone has the opportunity to contribute without the conversation turning into a monologue. Before concluding, summarize what emerged, define next steps, and assign responsibilities. A clear closure ensures that every participant knows what to do and what the deadlines are.

After the meeting

The work does not end with the meeting’s closure. Consolidating results is essential to avoid misunderstandings or missteps. Send a brief summary, commonly called minutes, strictly by email, with the discussed points, decisions taken, and assigned responsibilities. This document not only clarifies next steps, but also serves as an archive for future consultations. The email subject must include the meeting date and its title, facilitating future searches, and the minutes should also follow a standard format to reduce reader disorientation: having dozens of emails named generically is not a good strategy. If there are absent people who need to be informed, share with them a concise but complete summary so that everyone remains aligned on developments.

Learning to manage meetings is an indispensable skill for anyone aspiring to leadership roles. Even if it can seem challenging at first, with time and experience it becomes a natural part of work. The objective of a meeting is not to fill time, but to make decisions, solve problems, and create value, and every minute spent in a meeting that could have been a message is a cost that falls on everyone.