This Meeting Could Have Been a Google Doc
Zapier is leading the way to the promised land. The best remote teams will follow.
"You should meditate for 30 minutes a day, unless you are too busy. Then you should meditate for an hour" - Zen proverb.
Over-meeting is killing our morale and productivity.
This isn’t news. Surveys have shown that as high as 71% of meetings are considered unproductive by attendees. You can buy mugs or listen to songs about meetings that could have been emails. Remote work is only exacerbating this problem, with workers spending approximately 25% more time in meetings since the pandemic.
That’s why Zapier’s recent “No Meeting Week” announcement intrigued me. I’ve advocated for similar policies in the past, and I know that in some cultures, it can require Herculean effort to get meetings canceled.
Not every organization is ready to move to a no-meeting week… But what about a no-meeting day? I think we’re all capable of pulling that off… That’s why I put together this simple guide…
How to reduce your meeting load with better async communication
I want to give you the tools to clear bad meetings off your calendar… including the word-for-word scripts I’ve used to cancel meetings in the past. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you!
The important thing to remember here is that we’re replacing work with work. You don’t get to skip meetings without the legwork. You have to replace that synchronous communication with more effective asynchronous communication for this to work. That requires deliberate effort.
Schedule an hour at the end of the day on Friday to review your meetings for next week. As you review your docket, I want you to ask a few key questions:
What is the desired outcome of this meeting?
Examples of good desired outcomes include “advancing a prospect to the next step of our sales cycle” or “deciding the next steps for our holiday campaign.” Examples of bad desired outcomes are “sync on win-back initiative” or “review pipeline.”
What value am I expected to bring to this meeting?
Effective meetings require most of the attendees (if not all) to contribute in a meaningful way. Do you know what you’re there to contribute?
Do I have enough knowledge about this meeting to come prepared?
If you know the desired outcome and the value you can bring to the conversation, are there any unanswered questions you have that would help you better prepare?
This will give you a list of meetings that you have varying degrees of context about. Your goal is to get as much context before this meeting as possible.
How to Handle a “No Agenda, No Attenda” Meeting
This is both the most common meeting type I see during calendar audits and the one that’s most likely to turn into a Google doc if you play your cards right. Here’s the word-for-word script I recommend sending to the organizer.
Hey [FIRST NAME], saw we have a meeting on the books for next [DAY] on [TOPIC]. Didn’t see an agenda listed in the invite, but I know how busy you are… Thought we might be able to save you time if you’re interested.
Could you take 10 minutes to fill out any pertinent info in this document? Could make our time together more impactful or save the need to meet altogether!
Once they fill out the doc, you can collaborate asynchronously and then ask “do we still need to meet?” Oftentimes, the answer will be no.
How to Handle a “Why am I here?” Meeting
The goal with these meetings is to get the organizer to give you permission to duck out or a reason to be there. Either one is fine, but you need one! Here’s the message I’d send:
Hey [FIRST NAME], saw we have a meeting on the books for next [DAY] on [TOPIC]. Wanted to ask two quick questions: On a scale of 1-10 (10 being VERY important), how important is it that I’m in this meeting? Two: Is there anything in particular you want me to be prepared to answer or address during this time together?
Anything under a 6, I recommend declining and offering to answer any questions via Slack.
How to handle a “Context Needed” meeting
These meetings are almost always meetings you’ll end up attending, but by doing legwork upfront, you can make them more effective. Every once-in-awhile, that leg work can eliminate the need for you to be there. Rare, but it happens. Here’s the message I’d send:
Hey [FIRST NAME]... Doing meeting prep and I wanted to know if there’s anything I should be prepared to discuss during our meeting. Want to make the best possible use of that time.
From there, you can build out an agenda document using the same template as the “No Agenda, No Attenda” meeting and share it with the event organizer. Every once-in-awhile, that will be enough for you to skip the meeting. Won’t happen every time, but it will happen.
How to handle the onslaught of meeting invites
Cleaning off your calendar is one thing, but how do you keep wasteful and unproductive meetings off of it to begin with?
Again, the key here is to replace work with work.
I like to block off Focused Blocks of Time (I call them FBOTs) for key projects and initiatives. My goal is five uninterrupted 4-hour FBOTs per week to optimize for deep work. By scheduling those on my calendar at least a week in advance, I allow others to see the cost of scheduling a meeting with me. The answer isn’t an automatic “no,” but they will be interrupting a key project that’s important to us hitting our team goals. If they send an invite without an agenda or additional information
Hey [FIRST NAME], saw you threw some time on my calendar on [DATE]. Excited to help you however I can, but I do have an important initiative I’m working on at that time. Is there any way for us to handle this asynchronously? If you could find 10 minutes to fill out any pertinent info in this document, we might be able to get that time back!
That’s my best advice on how to reduce meeting load, move to more asynchronous communication, and make your workplace more remote-friendly, but I’m sure I missed something! I’d love to know how you’ve helped your team manage this transition. Reply directly to this email and let me know your best advice for avoiding wasteful meetings. I’m excited to learn from you!