The Complete Guide to Running Effective Meetings

How to create a Culture of Accountability

The 5 questions every leader should ask their AI mentor

_Priya catches Alex's eyeroll and checks her watch as the "30-minute status update" drags into its second hour. Half the attendees are clearly multitasking, remote staff have switched off their cameras, the agenda was never shared, and they're now 45 minutes into discussing last quarter's disappointing numbers without a single decision being made. As she calculates the collective salary cost of this room, Priya wonders: "There has to be a better way."_

#### Meeting tips from world-class leaders

Executives spend an average of nearly **23 hours a week** in meetings, double that of their counterparts in the 1960s.([HBR](https://hbr.org/2017/07/stop-the-meeting-madness), 2017). But, as a friend of mine once put it, many meetings result in companies "doing business with themselves." 

So, here is a comprehensive guide to running effective meetings that draws from the expertise of world-class leaders and bestselling authors, many of whom have shared their insights through Growth Faculty's leadership learning platform.

From Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and former PepsiCo chair Indra Nooyi to MIT lecturer Bob Pozen and restaurant innovator Will Guidara, these business leaders have great ideas for holding better meetings. 

Read from start to finish, or jump to sections for tips for effective meetings covering different scenarios.

A common meeting story

*   **Purpose First** - Every meeting must have a clear objective and defined outcome. If you can't define the [purpose](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/articles/leadingwithpurpose), cancel the meeting
*   **Right People, Right Time** - Only invite essential attendees and schedule meetings for less than one hour (45 minutes with 15-minute breaks works well)
*   **Prepare and Share** - Send out agendas with invites and distribute materials 24 hours before the meeting so attendees can come prepared
*   **Structure for Success** - Use the P.A.O. framework: **Purpose** (specific goal), **Agenda** (topics to discuss), **Outcome** (expected results and next steps). Map out sales meetings
*   **Encourage Learning and Debate** - Make feedback and learning the first agenda item, farm for dissent, and encourage open disagreement to make better decisions
*   **Time Discipline** - Start on time, end on time, focus on decisions and actions rather than just presenting information, and respect everyone's schedule
*   **Balance Meeting Load** - Cap meeting time at 60% of your week, implement no-meeting days for deep work, and regularly assess which meetings truly add value

7 Best Practice Meeting Habits

Senior leadership coach and a foundation [AI Mentor](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/ai-mentors?campaign_id=701RG00000oxPSF&promo=AIMentorBlog) for Growth Faculty [John Spence](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/articles/strategicplanforsuccess), author of _“Awesomely Simple”_ says the key is to balance frequency with purpose. Here's a framework that he often recommends:

·        **Daily Stand-ups**: Short, focused meetings (15 minutes) to align on daily goals and address any immediate roadblocks. Ideal for working on fast-paced projects.

·        **Weekly Team Meetings**: These should be more comprehensive (30-60 minutes), covering progress updates, upcoming priorities, and any issues that need team input.

·        **Monthly Strategic Meetings**: A longer session (1-2 hours) to review overall progress against strategic goals, adjust plans, and discuss larger challenges.

·        **Quarterly Reviews**: These are critical for assessing performance, setting new objectives, and ensuring alignment with long-term strategy.

·        **Annual Planning Sessions**: A deep dive into the year’s successes and challenges, setting the stage for the next year’s strategic initiatives.

John says the success of meetings is greatly enhanced by having clear agendas, defined outcomes, and disciplined time management.

How many meetings should we be having?

Will Guidara says every business is in the business of hospitality. Will once co-owned Eleven Madison Park, a restaurant named #1 restaurant in the world. The author of _“Unreasonable Hospitality”_ told our masterclass he recommends a 30-minute daily huddle.  
 

> “A daily 30-minute meeting is where a collection of individuals becomes a team.”- Will Guidara

He says sharing stories in the huddle can inspire your staff and, done well, it can change a culture. “As a leader, you have to use every single tool in your kit to build morale and keep it high,” he says. 

“It's an opportunity to talk about the how and the why,” he says, and “to share moments of inspiration. Done well, the people you work with become better at their jobs and their lives.” And, in one of [our favourite quotes from Will Guidara](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/articles/our-favourite-quotes-by-will-guidara), he says: _**“A leader’s role isn’t only to motivate and uplift; sometimes it’s to earn the trust of your team by being human with them.”**_

Will Guidara’s 30 minute daily huddle

We heard earlier how executives can spend over 20 hours a week in meetings. 

Adapt Productivity founder and author of _“Urgent”_ and [_"Smart Work",_ Dermot Crowley](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/articles/GREATIDEASSmartWorkbyDermotCrowley) believes in setting a cap on your meeting time. He says that one manager he worked with estimated she was spending 80% of her week in meetings, which was unacceptable.

She worked on setting a cap of 60% of her time for meetings and became more discerning about the meetings she accepting.

How much time should I spend in meetings? 

_“Your Oxygen Mask First”_ author and foundation [AI Mentor](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/ai-mentors?campaign_id=701RG00000oxPSF&promo=AIMentorBlog) for Growth Faculty [Kevin Lawrence](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/articles/grow-and-scale-business), says meetings can be the ultimate time-wasters if not handled right. He suggest these pointers to make them count:

·        **Purpose First**: Every meeting must have a clear objective. If you can't define it, cancel the meeting

·        **Right People**: Only include those who are essential. More people mean more opinions and more time wasted

·        **Time Discipline**: Set a strict time limit. Start on time, end on time. Respect everyone’s schedule

·        **Action-Oriented**: Focus on decisions and actions. What needs to happen? Who’s responsible?

·        **No Meeting Days**: Implement days with no meetings to allow for deep work and recovery

In _"Your Oxygen Mask First,"_ Kevin talks about how habits create freedom. Make your meetings a habit of efficiency, he suggests, _not_ endurance.

Making sure meetings are not timewasters

Former military officer Stephen Scott in _“The 15 Disciplines”_ tells of a meeting with an inherited squadron that “seemed to be achieving nothing at all.”

He said no-one was contributing and he “wasn’t learning anything.” So, he switched up the agenda to make feedback the first discussion item for every subsequent meeting.

“When everyone believed that my first agenda item was to learn, they came to all future meetings ready to share. They were not just sharing it with me, they were sharing it with each other. We were finally learning as a group,” says Stephen.

He says the best way to foster a learning culture is to first share the mistakes you have made and what you are learning from them.

**Farm for dissent**

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is also a big fan of using meetings to debate and learn.

“The more you actively farm for dissent, and the more you encourage a culture of expressing disagreement openly, the better the decisions that will be made in your company,” he says in his book _“No Rules Rules”_ co-written with Erin Meyer

"Farm for dissent. Socialise the idea. Test it out.”

 What is the point of internal meetings? 

“Planning matters!” So says Jill Konrath, author of _“Agile Selling”_, who says prospects can quickly determine if you’ve done your homework. Here are some great tips from Jill:

·        Check out their company’s website and research the individuals you’ll meet

·        Review your prior interactions – are they curious, considering a change, or simply looking at options? What are their expectations?

·        Get clear on your desired outcome of the meeting. What’s the logical next step?

Jill shares on p.117 a way to map out how you’d like to see the meeting run:

·        **Outcome** (At the end of the meeting the next step will be………) Prospect (They’re expecting….)

·        **Opening:** Make intros, confirm times, review agenda

·        **Set the stage:** Share your value proposition, success stories, etc. Your goal is to establish yourself as a credible resource. Write what you want to say.

·        **Transition:** How will you transition to questions?

·        **Focus on business:** Lead a conversation about reason for meeting. List 10 questions you want to discuss in logical sequence (identify support materials needed, and who should be there)

·        **Advance the process:** Bring the meeting to a close on a timely basis. Summarise your understanding, open issues, etc. Suggest the logical next step

Conducting great sales meetings

Cyril Peupion, author of [_“Work Smarter, Live Better”_](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/articles/Worksmarterlivebetterproductivitytools), shares an 8-step process around meetings.

**Step 1: Meetings with others**: List the regular meetings with others (regular meetings you attend, 1:1s, client meetings, project meetings with colleagues etc). Estimate the amount of time to be effective at each. Calculate the number of hours per week needed

**Step 2: Meetings with self**: Try to assess how much time per week you would need ideally to spend on your own on specific big rock projects. Calculate the amount of hours per week needed (include time spent on key projects, regular phone calls, time to prepare for meetings and do admin, email time).   

**Step 3: “me time”**: This could be lunch time, going to the gym, picking up kids from school. Calculate the hours

**Step 4: Unplanned/reactive time**: Allow at least one and a half to two hours of unplanned time per day. Most people need more than this for unexpected crises, interruptions, little things.

**Step 5: Others**: Estimate time needed for non-routine events and tasks (training, farewell party)

**Step 6: Calculate and decide**. Now add the time up. Calculate how many hours you realistically want to work and see if the two totals match.

**Step 7: Lock your time** **around your big rocks**. Ask yourself which activities are critical to your performance and/or long-term impact. Review the activities which you should dedicate 80% of your time. Decide which activities you need to do, and which you can avoid or delegate.

**Step 8: Book recurrent meetings** in your calendar. Cyril suggests implementing as many big rocks as possible as recurrent meetings (e.g. two meetings with yourself for two hours a day). Colour-code them (e.g. big rocks are green, internal meetings grey, sales time red, personal time blue).

Pause once a week to plan the following week, he says.

How do I balance time for meetings and time for myself?

Andrea Clarke, in her book _“Adapt”,_ shares Shamal Dass’s take on 1:1 meetings (a manager having a meeting with one employee). Dass is an adjunct associate professor at the UNSW Business School. For 1:1 meetings he prefers coaching and reflection to activity updates.

This might look like: _What did you do? How did that feel? Was that a good experience for the client? Is there anything you would have changed in the process?_

Andrea says this encourages team members to think critically about their work, learn from their experiences and continuously improve.

1:1 meetings and the reason for them

Instead of money “spent” Gautam Ganglani sees coffees and meals with a prospective contact as money invested. He says in his book _“Breaking Bread”_ that sitting down to eat or have a coffee is breaking bread with someone you might work with in the future.

He suggests these affirmations:

·        _“Opportunities come with each door that I open, with each person that I meet.”_

·        _“‘Prosperity and abundance’ is my natural state of mind.”_

·        _“As I meet the needs of others, opportunity appears before me at every turn to take care of my needs also.”_

Bring some curiosity to your coffee catch-up. If you’re dealing with hostility to change and a toxic workplace Dr Jen Frahm, co-founder of The Agile Change Leadership Institute, told our [emerging leaders masterclass](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/articles/emerging-leaders-program-self-leadership) she'd recommend taking members of the team for coffee and talk about the situation to build trust and connection.

"Ask: 'Have there been decisions that led to this?” “I’m curious about….,” “Can you help me understand where it’s coming from?'” she suggests.

Meetings over coffee

Productivity expert and MIT Sloan School of Management senior lecturer Bob Pozen is a fan of the “hybrid buddy.” In a masterclass for Growth Faculty he said leaders should consider pairing up in-person attendees with online attendees so there is an in-person advocate for the remote worker.

Jill Konrath, author of "Agile Selling", says she has a checklist for conducting virtual meetings: 

*   Look into camera, smile, welcome people as they log on
*   Begin with intros and a little chitchat
*   Review meeting purpose and time frames
*   Present vital, must-know information
*   Ask questions to gain insights and perspectives
*   Suggest/solicit input for logical next steps

For the follow up, Jill sends an email with key points/decisions and "to-dos", she forwards the recording to those who missed the meeting, and reviews the meeting for ways to improve skills.

Making hybrid/remote meetings work

Productivity expert and MIT Sloan School of Management senior lecturer Bob Pozen says the best practice habits for _prepping_ for a meeting include:

·        **Schedule** all meetings to go for less than one hour. 45 minutes and 15 minutes break

·        **Invite** only those who need to be there

·       **Send out** an agenda along with the invite (those invited should scrutinise to see if it fits with their own priorities)

·       **Distribute** materials 24 hours before the meeting

Preparing for successful meetings

MIT lecturer Bob Pozen suggests this framework for _conducting_ a meeting.

·        **Leader outline**. Leader spells out the issues in 5-20 minutes

·        **Discussion**. Most of the meeting should be used for discussion not presenting information

·        **Debate**. Encourage debate by calling on people during the meeting (see info on “hybrid buddies” in hybrid meeting chapter above)

·        **End with next steps**. State what has been decided and what the next steps will be

Best practice habits for conducting a meeting 

Shortening your meetings and making them more effective can increase productivity and job satisfaction.

Organisational psychologist and founder of behaviour change consultancy Inventium, Amantha Imber, says that "research shows 15% of our job satisfaction is based on our satisfaction with the meetings we attend."

Amantha likes the framework **P.A.O.:**

*   **Purpose** (Reason for meeting? Specific goal?)
*   **Agenda** (Topics to be discussed? How will meeting address the purpose?)
*   **Outcome** (What tangible results are expected? What actions will be taken?)

Determine who needs to be at meetings and whether the meeting needs to happen at all.

Try adding a PAO to the next meeting invite, or chat to your team about incorporating this method into meeting culture.

Framework for focus and productivity in meetings

An annual meeting or conference is a great opportunity to reignite passion and communicate bold ideas.

Former PepsiCo chair and CEO Indra Nooyi, in [her book _“My Life in Full”_](https://thegrowthfaculty.com/articles/Indranooyimylifeinfull) describes the moment she took her “Performance with Purpose” strategy proposal for a healthier PepsiCo to the company’s 400 top managers from around the world.

She said she talked for more than an hour, reflecting on the company’s history, performance, brands, capabilities, and “our wonderful people.”

Then, she talked about what was at risk.

“If we didn’t transform our portfolio to meet changing consumers, we couldn’t grow; if we didn’t focus on the environment, our costs would rise, and some countries would deny us license to operate; if we didn’t let people bring their whole selves to work, we wouldn’t get the best employees,” she told them.

“And if we didn’t deliver performance, we couldn’t fund purpose. Performance and purpose reinforced each other.”

Indra says she threw her head and heart into the speech to show her deep commitment and it worked. Everyone stood and cheered.  

3 takeaways from Indra Nooyi's annual meeting story:

*   **Lead with context before consequences** - Start by celebrating your company's strengths and people, then clearly articulate what's at stake if you don't evolve
*   **Connect performance to purpose** - Show how business results and meaningful impact reinforce each other rather than compete for resources
*   **Commit with passion** - Authentic emotional investment in your message inspires others to stand behind bold ideas and transformational change

Annual company meeting - Indra Nooyi's story

Dorie Clark, author of _“The Long Game”_ says studies show 96% of executives say they have no time for long-term or strategic thinking. “Everyone says it’s great, but no-one does it,” says Dorie. “Yet it’s a huge competitive advantage if you carve out time to do it.”

Dorie herself uses the concept of **Manager Time** (meetings etc.) and **Maker Time** (scheduled blocks for creative and strategic thinking).

She also says that for every opportunity that comes her way she asks:

·        _What is the actual time required?_

·        _What are the physical and emotional costs? (If too busy you might get run down)_

·        _What is the opportunity cost? (What gets put aside for me to do this?)_

·        _How will I feel about this in a year?_

Meeting with yourself

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The Complete Guide to Running Effective Meetings

7 best practice habits from top leaders and Growth Faculty speakers

Keep informed
Stay Inspired

The Complete Guide to Running Effective Meetings

7 best practice habits from top leaders and Growth Faculty speakers

Keep informedStay Inspired

Keep informed
Stay Inspired