Coaching for Leaders – Episode 772

How to Measure Your Meeting’s Success, with Rebecca Hinds
Host: Dave Stachowiak
Guest: Rebecca Hinds
Date: March 2, 2026

Overview

This episode focuses on a crucial but often overlooked aspect of organizational life: measuring the success of meetings. Host Dave Stachowiak is joined by Rebecca Hinds, organizational behavior expert and author of "Your Best Meeting Ever." Together, they explore why bad meetings persist, dive into actionable metrics for evaluating meetings, and discuss practical steps leaders can take to transform meetings from time-wasters into valuable organizational tools.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Historical and Psychological Roots of Bad Meetings

• Sabotage as Organizational Habit:
  • Rebecca shares that the infamous WWII-era Simple Sabotage Field Manual from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) advised intentionally slowing operations through dysfunctional meetings. She draws a provocative parallel: "It's both ironic and unfortunate that we've adopted many of these tactics—only now we call it business as usual." (03:43)
• Why We Complain about Meetings:
  • Social conditioning has led people to rate meetings poorly publicly—even if their private ratings are higher. Rebecca calls this "the meeting suck reflex," explaining it’s a bond formed through shared workplace pain and stories. (06:25)

2. Why (& How) to Measure Meeting Effectiveness

• The Limits of Cost-Based Metrics
  • Tracking time and salary costs can “jolt people out of inertia,” but by itself, this metric can trigger counterproductive cost-cutting.
  • "If you're over-indexing on cost, you start to incentivize the wrong behaviors... the cost of a meeting doesn't necessarily correlate with the value." (09:56, Rebecca)
• Actionable Measurement Approaches:
  • Return on Time Invested (ROTI): Attendees anonymously rate whether a meeting was worth their time (0–5 scale), and suggest what could boost the score by one point.
    • "It's a way to get a better sense if your meeting is effective... And it's understanding that almost always, there's some sort of split in the ratings… this can lead to much more intentionality in terms of who’s in the room." (10:47, Rebecca)
    • Notably effective at surfacing feedback that’s more honest and actionable when conducted anonymously and not after every meeting (recommended: ~10% of meetings). (16:21)

3. Key Metrics to Track Your Meetings

Rebecca highlights several practical and technology-enabled metrics:

• a. Return on Time Invested (ROTI)

  • Anonymous feedback on whether time was well spent (10:47)
  • Bonus question: "What would boost your rating by one point?" for actionable improvement (17:10)

• b. Total Meeting Load:

  • Tracking total hours spent in meetings per week can reveal overload, with 10 hours/week identified as a tipping point.
    • "If you’re significantly above that 10 hours per week in meetings... usually there's a way to improve fundamentally how you're deploying these meetings." (18:53, Rebecca)
  • Time savings often come from redesign and reducing recurring or overstaffed meetings, not just deleting sessions (21:09)

• c. Airtime/Voice Distribution:

  • How evenly speaking time is shared among participants
  • "Equal airtime is one of the strongest predictors of team performance." (23:08, Rebecca)
  • Modern meeting platforms can track this—data should be shared with attendees (not management) to promote self-awareness and behavioral adjustment, not surveillance (25:38)

• d. Multitasking Detection:

  • High multitasking is a red flag for engagement.
  • "We know multitasking in so many ways is a myth... Are people multitasking because the meeting isn’t designed for them, or because of overwhelming workload, or because they’ve shifted attention to their AI note-taker?" (28:03, Rebecca)
  • This points to deeper design or workload issues.

• e. Punctuality and Attendance Rate:

  • Consistently starting on time and having invited participants show up signals meeting value and respect.
  • "When we know that someone... has invested the time, effort, care into designing a well-functioning meeting, we show up wanting to reciprocate." (30:13, Rebecca)

4. Avoiding Pitfalls: The Dangers of Over-Reliance on Metrics

• Beware ‘Metrics as Targets’:
  • Over-focusing on meeting reduction can cut critical 1:1s or developmental time, harming the organization.
  • “What I see is the first meetings that tend to be cut are the meetings that matter most… Absolutely, we need them… Meetings are for things that absolutely can’t happen asynchronously: building connection, mentoring, inspiring your team.” (32:52, Rebecca)
• Leverage Technology Effectively:
  • Today’s analytics and AI tools are making it easier than ever to track these metrics—even in in-person environments.
  • Don’t use data for surveillance or punitive action; use it for insight and improvement (25:38)

5. Getting Started: A Practical Approach

• There’s no single metric or silver bullet; use multiple indicators to "start a conversation, not end one."
• Begin with awareness—try out ROTI, review meeting load, and talk openly about what you find.
• Small improvements, even just freeing up an hour or two per week, add up significantly.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Rebecca Hinds on historical sabotage:
  • "[The Simple Sabotage Manual] weaponiz[ed] meetings to inject all of these different inefficiencies into enemy operations… now we call it business as usual." (03:43)
• On cost calculators:
  • "If you're over-indexing on cost you start to incentivize the wrong behaviors... you can have a very expensive meeting, but if it triggers a whole host of different positive effects... these are things where we know meetings can be highly valuable." (09:56, Rebecca)
• On ROTI measurement:
  • “After about 10% of your meetings... ask attendees to rate... was this meeting worth the time? And as a bonus, what would enable you to boost that score by one point?” (10:47, Rebecca)
• On implementation:
  • “Survey fatigue is very real... 10% is a good mechanism. It also gives you time to implement changes...” (16:21, Rebecca)
• On airtime:
  • "Equal airtime is one of the strongest predictors of team performance." (23:08, Rebecca)
• On over-reducing meetings:
  • “The first meetings that tend to be cut are the meetings that matter most... We absolutely need those.” (32:52, Rebecca)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–05:14: Opening discussion on the persistent problem of bad meetings (WWII sabotage manual, culture of complaint)
• 06:25–10:47: The case for (and pitfalls of) quantifying meeting costs; introduction to ROTI
• 10:47–16:21: How to implement ROTI (Return On Time Invested), anonymity, and survey frequency
• 18:53–21:09: Total time in meetings per week, “meeting doomsday” calendar reset, and impact
• 22:32–25:38: Tracking airtime and voice; how to approach this without a surveillance culture
• 28:03–29:43: Multitasking as a metric (and what it reveals)
• 30:13–31:43: Punctuality and attendance rates; what they indicate about meeting value
• 32:24–35:54: The danger of treating metrics as targets; why some critical meetings shouldn’t be cut
• 35:54-end: Final advice and summary

Final Takeaways

• Meetings can and should be measured and improved.
• Start with a holistic approach—look at multiple metrics, not just cost or time.
• Use ROTI and attendee feedback to inform meeting design and roster.
• Use engagement indicators (e.g., airtime, multitasking) to spot issues.
• Avoid using metrics punitively; the goal is improvement, not surveillance.
• Be wary of cutting meetings indiscriminately—some are essential for development and connection.

Rebecca Hinds’ book, "Your Best Meeting Ever," provides a practical roadmap for implementing these principles.
Listen for more episodes on meeting facilitation and leadership at coachingforleaders.com.