CodingPaws

Speedy meetings

2022-04-29

Meetings, either in-person or virtually, are a relevant tool in business communication. A single person might spend most of their weekly work time in meetings. Asynchronous communication can reduce the number and length of meetings. But, in some circumstances, meetings will be scheduled one after the other.

For example, all the product managers I have worked with will spend some days of the week jumping from meeting to meeting with little to no break time in between meetings. If you have to take care of private-life tasks while working remotely or you have to another conference room in an office, you will be stressed out and late.

A simple solution

You most likely use a scheduling tool like Outlook[^2] or Google Calendar[^3] to arrange most of your meetings. These calendars often have a Speedy meetings feature. It reduces the meeting time by 5 or 10 minutes.

For example, a 30-minute meeting at 9:30 will last until am 9:55 am. And a 60-minute one at 2:00 pm will end at 2:50 pm.

By adding these few minutes between meetings, you’re respectful of your colleagues’ time. You give them time to handle private things, go to the toilet, meditate, find the meeting room, and more![^1]

And don’t worry about the fewer minutes in meetings. All participants will be considerably more focused and relaxed. If everyone has the headspace for the current meeting, its usefulness and productivity will be noticeably better.