How to reduce meetings in the workplace?

Follow these tips to avoid unnecessary meetings and stay productive at your workplace. Akshay has outlined the best effective tips on this blog.

Here they are:

1) Avoid large meetings

Large meetings waste valuable time and energy.
- They discourage debate
- People are more guarded than open
- There’s not enough time for everyone to contribute
Don’t schedule large meetings unless you’re certain they provide value to everyone.

2) Leave a meeting if you’re not contributing

If a meeting doesn’t require your:
- Input
- Value
- Decisions
Your presence is useless.
It’s not rude to leave a meeting.
But it’s rude to waste people’s time.

3) Forget the chain of command

Communicate with colleagues directly.
Not through supervisors or managers.
Fast communicators make fast decisions.
Fast decisions = competitive advantage.

4) Be clear, not clever

Avoid nonsense words and technical jargon.
It slows down communication.
Choose words that are:
- Concise
- To the point
- Easy to understand
Don’t sound smart. Be efficient.

5) Ditch frequent meetings

There’s no better way to waste everyone’s time.
Use meetings to:
- Collaborate
- Attack issues head-on
- Solve urgent problems
But once you resolve the issue, frequent meetings are no longer necessary.
You can resolve most issues without a meeting.
Instead of meetings:
- Send a text
- Send an email
- Communicate on a discord or slack channel
Don’t interrupt your team’s workflow if it’s unnecessary.

6) Use common sense

If a company rule doesn’t:
- Make sense
- Contribute to progress
- Apply to your specific situation
Avoid following the rule with your eyes closed.
Don’t follow rules. Follow principles.