If You Fix One Thing This Quarter, Fix Your Meetings
This article was published in the European Business Review in October 2025 under the title ‘The Hidden Balance Sheet: How Meetings Spend Your Most Precious Capital'.’
We spend hours in them. We complain about them. We book them out of habit. But when we ask many teams what a particular meeting is for, we’ll often get a shrug.
So many meetings we sit in start the same way: someone quietly flicks through the calendar, and then asks the question, “Do I really need to be in this one?” And that’s the trap. We’ve forgotten that meetings aren’t calendar furniture or corporate theatre; they’re the modern echo of humanity’s most successful survival strategy. For millions of years, our species thrived because we could do something our competitors couldn’t: while chimpanzees relied on brute force and basic tools, humans won through superior social organisation. The ability to mobilise resources – to align, decide, and act together – wasn’t just an advantage, it was existential. Groups that coordinated better literally overran those that didn’t.
Yet we’ve turned this evolutionary superpower into background noise. We treat the Monday huddle the same way we treat the boardroom pitch. The corridor chat carries more weight than the strategy session. We’ve lost sight of the fact that in a competitive landscape, the organisations that coordinate best still win – and those that don’t get overrun by rivals who do.
Most meetings are well-intended; they’re just badly designed. We focus on form over function. We forget to define a crystal-clear purpose, and we wonder why nothing quite moves.
But when you run a meeting with clarity and intent, it’s one of the best tools you’ve got, tapping into the collaborative intelligence that made us human.
This is how to make every meeting work harder. Not by adding more structure – by adding more purpose.
The Monday Huddle
You meant for it to be a quick, energising start to the week. But somewhere between “Let’s just go round quickly” and “Sorry, can you repeat that? You froze,” the Monday huddle turned into a sluggish cycle of calendar commentary. People reel off what’s in their diary like they’re auditioning for a productivity podcast.
No one’s really listening, someone’s definitely writing an email, and the most useful thing to come out of it is the reminder that Barry is still on mute. The pace is off, energy is flat, and no one leaves feeling clearer, just … slightly later to start their real work. And yet, done right, this five-minute check-in could be a game-changer. It’s not the meeting itself that’s the problem, it’s what we’re asking it to do.
Purpose: Align the team, share priorities, surface blockers.
How consequential is it? Low stakes, high rhythm-setting.
Done well: Focused, fast, energising. People leave feeling a part of something, and informed and supported.
Goes wrong when: It becomes a round-the-houses status update with no edge.
Leader’s role: Set the pace. Model brevity and clarity. Keep the focus on priorities, not updates.
Make it work:
Don’t do together what you can do apart; share updates ahead of the meeting.
Start with direction, not detail. Don’t let it drift into calendar theatre. Anchor on what matters most this week, for each person and for the team.
Use three smart prompts:
Priorities: What are your top 1–2 priorities this week that others need to know about?
Challenges: What’s in your way? What boulders do you need moved?
Support: Where do you need input, intros, backing, or space?
Keep it crisp. If it’s just an update, share it in writing. Time together should shift energy, not just share information.
The Town Hall (or AGM)
There’s a particular facial expression people wear at town halls. Polite. Alert-ish. Slightly braced. You see, they’ve learned that this is usually 40 minutes of scripted optimism, vague slides, and phrases like “strategic realignment” which basically mean “brace yourselves”. Leadership mean well; they want to inspire, to connect, to reassure.
But when the Q&A is curated and the tone feels more broadcast than dialogue, people tune out. They nod. They clap. They text each other under the table. Town halls are the poster child for monologue misfires. People want clarity, not spin, and engagement isn’t won through polish, but through honesty. When these meetings work, they’re electric. When they don’t, they quietly drain belief.
Purpose: Communicate strategy, build confidence, show direction.
How consequential is it? High visibility, reputation-shaping.
Done well: Clear, confident, human. People leave feeling proud and informed.
Goes wrong when: Over-scripted. Over-polished. Under-trusted.
Leader’s role: Be the one who says the hard thing first. Set the tone by being real, not rehearsed.
Make it work:
Lead with clarity, not choreography. People don’t need a show. They need to understand what’s changing, why it matters, and what it means for them.
Say the hard thing first. Don’t save the tension for the Q&A or bury it in slide 37. Naming the discomfort early earns trust, and attention.
Open the floor properly. Pre-vetted questions are safe but sterile. If you want real engagement, create psychological safety for honest dialogue, and don’t flinch when it comes.
The Brainstorm
There’s usually Post-its. Sometimes snacks. Always someone saying, “No idea is a bad idea,” while secretly judging them all. The brainstorm starts with a flurry, energy, coloured pens, whiteboards, maybe even jazz music. But then … the same few people dominate. The quiet ones stay quiet. Wild ideas fly, but they rarely land.
And a week later, no one remembers what got decided, because nothing did. Everyone had fun, sort of. But did anything actually happen? Hard to say. There was a lot of drawing.
Purpose: Generate ideas, shape early thinking.
How consequential is it? Medium – it can unlock creativity or waste an hour.
Done well: Structured looseness. Energy. Follow-through.
Goes wrong when: It’s hijacked by louder voices. Or nothing happens after.
Leader’s role: Frame the problem well, then step back. Make space for the thinkers, not just the talkers.
Make it work:
Define the problem like a strategist. A good brainstorm starts with a great question. Not “What are your ideas?” but “What’s the real problem we’re solving, and why now?”
Start in silence. Give people five quiet minutes to think and write before anyone speaks. This evens out the airtime and surfaces better ideas.
Use roles, not just voices. For example, assign a challenger (to stress-test), a builder (to develop others’ ideas), and a closer (to call time and decide). Structure drives outcomes.
The Accidental Meeting (watercooler chats, hallway run-ins, drinks after work …)
It happens in the lift. In the coffee queue. On a walk between buildings. Someone leans in and says, “Just so you know …” And suddenly, you’re in it, a real conversation, with real consequences, that no one else even knows occurred. No notes. No record. But definite impact. These moments can be gold: quick intel, connection, context.
But they can also be chaos. Because what was said informally gets treated as a decision and, next thing you know, someone’s being looped in on something they didn’t even know was looped out.
Purpose: Connection, intel, soft influence.
How consequential is it? High – social capital is built here.
Done well: Natural, intentional, respectful.
Goes wrong when: Boundaries blur or signals are misread.
Leader’s role: Stay consistent. What you say in the corridor should match what you say in the room.
Make it work:
Treat the informal moments like they matter, because they do. Corridor chats often reveal what structured meetings don’t. When you genuinely listen and engage, these moments become gold. When you use them to posture or politic, people clock it fast.
Be the same person in every room. If you’re open and engaged in the corridor but closed off in the boardroom, people won’t trust either version. Consistency builds credibility.
Don’t let soft power become side deals. If something gets agreed informally, bring it into the light. Loop others in. Good leaders close the gap between what’s said privately and what’s done publicly.
The Go / No Go Decision Meeting
It says “Decision” in the invite, which already feels suspicious. There’s a lot of background. A lot of context. A lot of “Just to play devil’s advocate …” But not much deciding. The group talks. Circles. Parks the issue. Someone suggests a working group. Everyone agrees … to talk more later.
The real problem? We never agreed what we were deciding in the first place. We just hoped the clarity would reveal itself mid-meeting. It didn’t. And now we need another meeting to sort out what this one didn’t.
Purpose: Make a choice and move forward.
How consequential is it? High – it can shape strategy, spend, or team direction.
Done well: Decisive, inclusive, crisp.
Goes wrong when: The decision is already made. Or never gets made.
Leader’s role: Get crystal clear on the “what”, “who”, and “how” before the meeting starts. Then hold the line.
Make it work:
Name the decision before the meeting starts. Don’t wait for it to emerge mid-discussion. Write it down. Frame it clearly. If you can’t define it, you’re not ready to meet.
Be clear on who decides, and who advises. Not everyone in the room needs a vote, but everyone deserves a voice. Confusion here is what kills momentum.
Set decision criteria in advance. What matters most: speed, cost, impact? Without shared criteria, the loudest opinion usually wins.
Make closure non-negotiable. Good meetings don’t end in “Let’s revisit.” They end in alignment: what we’re doing, why, and who’s accountable.
The Client Meeting
You’ve assembled the team. You’ve polished the creds. You’ve agonised over which case study to include and who gets to speak when. The meeting kicks off. You launch in, passionately, professionally, about your offering, your track record, your differentiators. Twenty minutes later, the client is nodding politely but hasn’t said much.
When they do speak, it’s clear they’re solving a different problem than the one you thought you were here to discuss. You realise too late: you were focused on what you wanted them to know, not what they needed to hear.
Purpose: Build trust, open the door, explore what matters to them.
How consequential is it? High – this is where reputations are made and missed.
Done well: Curious, relevant, two-way. The client leaves feeling heard and intrigued.
Goes wrong when: You’re speaking your language, not theirs. Answering questions they never asked.
Leader’s role: Make it about them. Read the room. Ask sharper questions. Hold back your brilliance until it’s actually relevant.
Make it work:
Start with their world. What are they dealing with? What are they trying to fix? If you can’t answer that, don’t open your laptop.
Tailor, don’t tour. Ditch the generic intro slides. Show them you’ve thought about them, not just copied in your usual deck.
Find the real problem. Often what they say they want isn’t what they actually need. Ask the next question.
Close with clarity. What did we learn? What’s the next step? Who’s doing what? Leave with momentum, not just a smile.
The Drop-in Meeting
You’ve been invited, along with 200 others, to a “drop-in session” about a new organisation-wide programme. It’s positioned as a chance to ask questions, but what it really is … is a cascade. The PowerPoint is long. The language is vague. And every time someone asks a real-world question, “How will this affect our business unit?”, the hosts smile kindly and say, “We’re working through the details.”
The meeting ends with a thanks-for-your-input sentiment, and you leave wondering if anything you heard applies to you, or if you’ve just sat through a beautifully produced shrug.
Purpose: Cascade comms, clarify impact, offer engagement on org-wide change.
How consequential is it? Low for content, high for perception.
Done well: Specific, transparent, two-way. People leave clearer, not just better briefed.
Goes wrong when: The room’s too big, the answers are too vague, and the dialogue is just theatre.
Leader’s role: Don’t pretend it’s a Q&A if it’s not. Name the limits. And if it’s just an announcement, make it a good one.
Make it work:
Be honest about the format. If you’re not ready for tailored Q&A, don’t offer it. Say: “This is an overview. We’ll follow up with team-specific sessions.”
Get closer to the audience. If you’re speaking to front-line teams, don’t bring a group strategy deck. Bring relevance. If you’re not ready for interaction, a five-minute video might do the job better, and save everyone’s time.
Have a route for the real questions. “We’ll take that away” is fine, but make sure someone actually does, and feeds back.
If you only fix one thing in your business this quarter, fix your meetings. Not your tech stack. Not your mission statement. Not your five-year plan. Fix the way decisions get made. The way people speak to each other. The way time gets used.
Because meetings aren’t admin; they’re power, trust, clarity, politics, energy. And the research confirms what we intuitively know: poorly run meetings don’t just waste time – they reduce psychological well-being, undermine job satisfaction, and erode organisational commitment (Rogelberg et al., 2010; Zijlstra et al., 1999). When meetings are broken, people begin to withdraw, both mentally and physically (Colquitt et al., 2008).
The reverse is equally true. When meetings work, they become a source of energy rather than a drain on it. They build commitment rather than erode it. They create the conditions where people lean in rather than check out.
If your meetings are vague, your strategy will be too. If they’re passive, so will your culture be. But if they’re purposeful and engaging, they become one of your most powerful tools for organisational health. So pick your worst meeting – and make it unmissable. The impact will ripple far beyond the room.