Team Cognitive Health playbook/Module 4 · Focus & deep work

Day 36 / 100 · Focus & deep work · The meeting diet: how much time meetings get

Put meetings on a diet.

Today is about how much. Who speaks is Day 57, and how a meeting runs is Day 72. Meetings are easy to add and awkward to remove, so they pile up.

Audit

See The Total

  • List every recurring meeting
  • Owner, purpose, attendees
  • Hours per person per week

Cut

Default To Less

  • No owner or purpose? Delete
  • Shorter by default
  • Fewer attendees, notes shared

Cap

A Weekly Budget

  • A team limit on meeting hours
  • New meeting means one goes
  • Review it every quarter

Source: Fortune ↗

Every meeting needs an owner and a reason.