10 Meetings That Waste Your Time Each Week

This article originally published on Time Management Ninja

Look at your calendar. How many meetings do you have today? This week? Probably, too many, (most workers attend 62 meetings per month). I would also hazard a guess that many of them are a complete waste of time. How do you tell which meetings are worth the investment of your time and which ones that you should skip?

I was recently with an executive who was complaining about “yet another” meeting. He said that he didn’t understand why the meeting was necessary, and he was upset that he spent an hour attending it. Afterwards, he vented that the “meeting shouldn’t have taken place.”

In this particular case, I agreed with this individual that he shouldn’t have attended the meeting. However, I disagreed that the meeting shouldn’t have taken place. In this case, the meeting was necessary… it was his attendance that wasn’t needed. Here are 10 business meetings that will waste your time:

1. The Meeting with No Agenda

A meeting with no plan is a plan for wasting time. I have seen meetings that go for multiple hours with no topic and no results.

2. The Unneeded Standing Meeting

Standing meetings are the bane of corporate calendars. Cancel repeat offenders that are not needed, and only have meetings when there are decisions to be made.

3. The Meeting Scheduled for Too Much Time

Why is the default meeting time 1 hour? Meetings expand to fill the allotted time, and most meetings could be accomplished in half the time scheduled.

4. The Meeting You Didn’t Call

This one isn’t meant to be rude, but just because someone sends you a meeting invite doesn’t mean you have to accept. Learn to say No when appropriate.

5. The Meeting with Too Many Attendees

Avoid meetings with too many people. If there are more than a handful of attendees, there is no chance of meaningful conversation.

6. The Meeting You are Not Involved In

A meeting with the wrong attendees gets nowhere. If you are not a key player or decision maker for the topic at hand, there is no reason for you to attend.

7. The Back-to-Back or Overlapping Meeting

Avoid meetings that play havoc on your calendar. You simply cannot be in two (or more) places at once. Avoid meetings that create conflicts in your schedule and cause unneeded stress in your day.

8. The Document Review Session

Have you ever been to a meeting where the leader proceeds to read the long document that was distributed to the team? Sitting around a table having “reading time” is not a good use of team members’ time.

9. The Obnoxious Lunch Meeting

Just because someone else wants to have a meeting during lunch doesn’t mean you should. In fact, there are many more productive things you can do during lunch than have an unnecessary lunch meeting.

10. The Meeting You Should Have Said No To

Saying No is an important skill, but even if you accepted a meeting invite, it doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind. Politely decline in advance of the meeting.

BONUS: The Meeting You Should Have Skipped

Before you blindly accept every meeting request that lands in your inbox, stop and consider the investment of time required.

Ask yourself, “Is this meeting worth my time?” If not, make sure that you skip those time-wasting meetings. You’ll be glad you did, and you’ll have more time to get your work done.