My New Default Meeting: 15 Minutes
I had a call with a social tools vendor the other day, getting the basic lowdown on the tool, the tool’s differentiation, and his immediate plans. I asked a few questions, agreed to getting a demo in a week or two, and we said goodbye. 17 minutes had passed.
I am not the only one who is working to get back time by making meetings dramatically shorter:
Glenn Engler, 15 Is the New 60
I’m trying my best to get rid of 60 minute meetings. They are a crutch — if you block off 60 minutes, it will probably take 60 minutes. My regular 1-on-1s are now 30 minutes. If we need more time, we’ll make it — but we’ve all found that focusing on 30 minutes makes them productive. While there are a few longer meetings on the book — client-facing, or our monthly All-Hands meeting, 30 minutes are ample time for the bulk of the other ones.
But what about 15? If you embrace the concept of tight agendas, prepared, and solutions-focused, we can go faster. I love it tackling a 30 minute meeting in 15. We look at each other and say “anything else?” And the answer is “no.” We just gained back 15 minutes.
So 15 in my new normal.
I also noticed a feature in Google Calendar settings called ‘speedy meetings’, as I was setting the default meeting length from 60 minutes to 15. It trims time at the end of longer meetings, so that a 30 minute meeting ends 5 minutes early, and so on.
Source: bostinno.com
