In this episode, Kaila and Kyle are joined by Rebecca Hinds, PhD, author of Your Best Meeting Ever: 7 Principles for Designing Meetings That Get Things Done. Rebecca breaks down the science behind why meetings so often fail—and shares research-backed tactics to decide which meetings are actually worth having, and how to design them for better outcomes.

00:00 Intro

02:36 Why do meetings suck?

03:47 Meeting Doomsday

05:40 Determining which meetings are actually useful

08:03 Considering remote employees

10:11 Making better meeting agendas

13:53 How to stop attendance inflation

16:13 How to manage the dominant speaker in a meeting

19:48 The “meeting-free day” debate

23:30 The value of a pre-read

25:55 Game: So Crazy It Just Might Work

This episode was sponsored by Allergy Insider. Ask your primary care provider about getting tested with your local respiratory allergy profile today. Learn more at: allergyinsider.com/questionnaire

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Each week on Per My Last Email, Morning Brew’s resident career experts Kaila and Kyle – whose careers have collectively spanned the corporate, government, nonprofit and startup sectors – debate the trickiest challenges in work life, and share tactics on how to overcome them. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast app!

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Meetings Suck—Here are the Science-Backed Ways to Fix Them