WorkLife with Adam Grant

Why Meetings Suck and How to Fix Them

Jeremy Caplan's AI podcast notes
AI-generated based on their snips

1. The cost of meetings includes not just the time wasted, but also the cost of ideas lost and energy drained. Nearly a third of meetings are unnecessary, wasting $25 million a year for every thousand people. Bad meetings can lead to fatigue, stress, and something called meeting recovery syndrome.
2. People rarely rethink meeting norms even when they become excruciating. Norms for meetings exist in every organization, but they are often not based on strong evidence. Improving meeting norms is possible through open conversations. Discuss when a meeting is necessary vs. when it is not. Interaction and engagement are key reasons for having a meeting.
3. It is important to establish norms and communicate that the decision to invite someone to a meeting is not personal, but a respect decision. Conversations should be had with individuals who do not need to attend a meeting to keep them informed and make them feel included. Over-inviting to meetings is common in organizations with agreeable cultures, but it does not promote real inclusion.
4. Step four for improving meetings is to change the conversation during the meeting and invite active participation. Consider framing the agenda as a set of questions to be answered instead of topics to be discussed. Framing the agenda as questions requires the meeting leader to be more thoughtful and structured. Questions create a natural dynamic of inquiry in the meeting. Including questions in meeting invites can energize attendees.

Highlights created by Jeremy Caplan

The Importance of Meeting Norms

05:22 • 1min

When to Have a Meeting and When Not to

08:05 • 34sec

Mitigating the Problem of Overinviting in Meetings

10:41 • 1min

Step four: Change the conversation during meetings, invite active participation

14:35 • 1min