"Q: I am a hands-on SME owner with a packed schedule. I'm starting to have a real problem with office meetings, and I need your help. I believe they are using up too much of my time and not leading to meaningful progress. Discussions go round in circles, as many participants come unprepared and quickly become disengaged, openly checking their phone notifications when others are speaking."
"It is important to make sure meetings have a good structure and clear purpose"
"Yet, I feel that I can't cancel all meetings, because they are a useful forum for staff to give feedback and ideas, and I don't want the business to become an autocracy."
Many meetings consume excessive time without producing meaningful progress due to unclear purpose and poor structure. Participants frequently arrive unprepared, causing discussions to circle and engagement to drop, including checking phone notifications while others speak. A hands-on SME owner with a packed schedule faces a conflict between cancelling meetings to save time and retaining a forum for staff feedback and ideas. Complete cancellation risks concentrating decision-making power and eroding staff input. Purposeful, structured meetings that protect attendees' time while preserving channels for employee contributions are necessary to balance efficiency and inclusive decision-making.
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