Most meeting problems are not people problems. They’re design problems.
Bad meetings do three things:
- They wander.
- They relive last week.
- They end without decisions.
A simple operating rhythm fixes most of it.
A 30-minute weekly leadership meeting
- 5 minutes: scorecard review (what’s up, what’s down)
- 10 minutes: capture the top issues (don’t debate yet)
- 10 minutes: solve one to two issues (assign actions, define done)
- 5 minutes: commitments recap (who owns what by when)
Rules that keep it clean
- No stories without numbers.
- No problems without an owner.
- No “we’ll try.” Set a measurable next step.
This isn’t rigid. It’s respectful. Everyone gets time back, and you stop using meetings as emotional processing.
What to do this week
- Implement the 30-minute structure for four weeks without changing it.
- Use one shared issues list and keep it visible.
- End every meeting with a commitments recap.