Better meetings start before the meeting

By Jack

Sept 13, 2026

People spend a lot of time in meetings. One on one’s with direct reports, operating reviews, customer calls, vendor calls, weekly staff meetings, etc. Meetings are an opportunity to get things done if executed properly.

Unfortunately, some meetings are not productive. Too many attendees, no agenda, no direction - everyone’s been there. Time is precious, so if this happens in your organization there are simple fixes you can implement to increase the value of these engagements.

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Set an Agenda

Every meeting should have an agenda. It should state the purpose of the meeting, three to five bullet points summarizing the discussion topics, and an expected outcome. Employees should be encouraged to decline internal meetings (within reason) that don’t have an agenda. This is a very quick & simple thing the meeting owner can do to facilitate preparedness by all stakeholders.

Send the “Pre-Read”

If there are important points and takeaways you need folks to comprehend during the meeting, send a one to three page document 24 - 48 hours in advance of the meeting to all attendees. Provide the necessary background information and data points you need to get your point across. A good pre-read shifts the meeting from information sharing to decision-making and problem-solving. Instead of presenting information and waiting for people to process it in real time, everyone arrives with the same baseline understanding and is prepared to discuss what should happen next.

When you send the pre-read make it clear that you’re asking each participant to review it prior to the meeting.

Come Prepared

Don’t walk into a meeting unprepared. This is an opportunity to show your level of preparedness and professionalism to the other participants. Write down notes beforehand and critically think about the topic at hand rather than showing up unprepared and navigating the meeting on the fly. The aforementioned “Pre-Read” naturally helps with meeting preparation.

Start On Time, End On Time

Respect the time boundaries of the meeting. If you’re going to run over, schedule another meeting for a separate time. People have a lot going on and starting late and ending late can unfavorably impact work elsewhere in the organization.

Foster a culture of timeliness, preparedness, and organization when it comes to meetings within your business. Simple operating disciplines like these compound across an organization. They reduce wasted time, improve the quality of discussion, and help teams make better decisions faster

What’s one meeting habit your organization uses that makes meetings more effective?