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- [00:06]
A
If you feel like your calendar is full but your business isn't moving forward, there's a good chance that meetings are your problem. You're sitting all day in meetings that run long, go off topic, and don't accomplish much. And when you're already strapped for time, that's not just frustrating, it's expensive. That's why some of the most successful leaders in the world are actually skeptical and of meetings. Elon Musk says you should only call a meeting if it's absolutely necessary. And if you're not contributing to the meeting, you should leave. Steve Jobs believed meetings shouldn't be longer than 30 minutes with only two to three key agenda items to keep you focused. And Jeff Bezos is clear that meetings should be small enough that two pizzas could feed the entire room. Different leaders, same principle. Meetings should help the work get done, not become the work. So today, on Contrary Leadership's head coach, John Felkins will show you what it takes to run productive meetings so you can stop wasting your time and start making progress.
- [01:13]
B
Do you ever walk out of a meeting thinking this could have been an email? I gotta be honest with you. This is something that we still have to work at. Meetings are easy to call, but they're not always the best way to go. Most meetings fail because there's no structure, no clear purpose, no agenda, and the right people aren't in the room. When that happens over and over again, meetings stop moving the work forward and start getting in the way of it. Your team gets fatigued, no real decisions get made, and the actual work ends up happening on nights and weekends because meetings have taken over the entire workday. And like Dave said, meetings are expensive. You're pulling multiple people away from their work. And when the meeting isn't productive, you're paying for them to be confused. You're basically burning payroll. Instead of having more meetings, you need to have the right meetings. At Ramsey, we work hard to be intentional about the meetings we keep on the calendar because not every meeting is worth our time. And honestly, we're not perfect at this. It's just too easy to fall into the trap of meeting just to meet. I want to show you a few of the types of meetings that we found actually make a difference. And our clients have found these helpful for their businesses too. All right, let's go first is one on one meetings. We've got one of those going on right here. It's where you take 30 minutes every week with your direct reports and you get deep with them on what's going on in their world, what problems that you need to solve with them, what accountability conversations that you need to have with them. It's where you coach them and listen, I know you're thinking every direct report for 30 minutes every week, hey, that's just too much time. But I'm here to tell you, if you do it this way, you're actually going to save yourself time. It totally cuts down on just people dropping in and you forgetting things. It gives you an intentional time every single week where you carve out a conversation with your team member where you can pour into them, and it helps them take care of issues on their own going forward so you can raise your team to the next level. The next kind of meeting we have is the team standup, and we've got one of those going on right now. Let's go take a look. This is where a team gets together and they talk about what is the most important thing that we need to get done today. They also usually hit on who's there and who's not there and what they might be blocked in their work. It's something that they come around very quickly. They tackle the issues of the day. They get clear on who's doing what. You might notice they're all standing up. It's the daily team standup. We say that because the meeting shouldn't last long enough for anybody to sit down. It's just, what do we have to do today? It's a short meeting. Speaking of meetings, looks like it's time for our staff meeting, so we better get up the hill now to attend ours. All right, we're here at the Ramsey staff meeting. The entire team comes to this meeting every week. And, yeah, it's an expensive meeting. A lot of payroll, a lot of time. Sales aren't going on right now. It's a big investment, but it's worth it. We're reinforcing core values, and we're celebrating team wins. You need to be doing this kind of meeting in your business. It's about time to get started, and Dave's gonna come out, so I'm gonna go find my seat.
- [04:26]
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Morning. What's up, Ramsey?
- [04:31]
B
And next is the quarterly strategic planning meeting. Just like what we're doing today. It's where once a quarter, you need to slow down long enough to make sure you're headed in the right direction. These meetings give you the space to work on the business, not just in it. It's where you step back, evaluate what's working and what's not working, and reconnect the day to day Work Back to the business objectives. Having these strategic meetings quarterly ensures your team stays focused and allows you to course correct so you can stay on track and actually hit your goals. We'll get right back to the episode, but first, do you remember when you only worked 40 hours a week? Now that you're in leadership, you do that by Wednesday afternoon. Look, you want to be a part of something meaningful. You want to make an impact and still have a life. But as your company grows, your calendar fills up, meetings stack on top of each other and you're doing more work that doesn't require your expertise. You don't have time to lead anymore. That's where Belay comes in. Belay matches you with qualified US based executive assistants, marketing assistants and accounting professionals. Real people who can help you protect your time so you can delegate what doesn't require your leadership and focus on the work only you can do. Because growth doesn't come from doing more, it comes from doing what matters most. If you're ready to build a business that runs without running you into the ground, download Belay's free resource the 40 Hour CEO Work Week Planning Guide by texting ENTRE to 55123 that's ENTRE 255123. Now let's get back to the episode and there's one meeting most leaders forget to schedule a meeting with yourself. This is intentional time to think and reflect and to prioritize without distractions. It's where you decide what matters most, not just what's urgent. Because if you don't take time to control your priorities, your calendar will and you'll spend your time reacting instead of leading. But listen, even good meetings can become time wasters if they're not structured in the right way. So let's talk about some non negotiables that every meeting needs in order to be productive. First, you need the right people in the room. That means making sure the people who have the authority to make decisions and move things forward are invited and actually show up. Otherwise you're not going to get much done. If someone isn't there to make a decision or contribute to the outcome, then they don't need to be in the meeting. Having too many people in the room slows things down and creates confusion. The goal here is clarity, not making sure everyone is included. Anyone who doesn't need to be in the meeting can get the update afterwards. Second, you need a clear agenda. Everyone should know why the meeting exists before it starts. What topics are you going to cover? What decisions need to be made. A meeting without a clear agenda almost always turns into a conversation without any direction. This matters even more for meetings that aren't part of your regular rhythm. When you pull people out of their day for one of these one off meetings, you need to clearly see sell the meeting why it matters, what will be decided, and why their presence is necessary. If you can't clearly answer those questions, that's usually a sign that the meeting doesn't need to happen at all and the information might be better shared via email. Third, you have to stick to the agenda. This is where most meetings go off the rails side conversations and new ideas pop up and those ideas might be good, but they don't serve the purpose of that particular meeting. So capture them and come back to them later. As a leader, don't be afraid to shut down any rabbit trails and bring the group back to the agenda to keep things moving done properly. You're not being rude, you're being respectful of everyone's time. And finally, you need to walk out knowing what happens next. This means clear action items, what needs to be done, who's going to do it, and when it's going to be done by good meetings create ownership, not ambiguity. If everyone leaves thinking someone else is handling it, nothing actually moves forward. So before the meeting ends, confirm the next steps, assign owners and set deadlines. When these non negotiables are in place, meetings stop being a drain and start helping people do their jobs better. Whether it's a one off meeting or a part of your regular rhythm, the goal is always the same. Clarity, clear decisions, clear ownership, and clear next steps. And if a meeting isn't doing that, it's your responsibility to fix it. Remember, meetings should move the business forward, not just fill up your calendar. And we want to know what meetings do you hate the most? Let us know down in the comments.
- [09:30]
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Meetings don't have to be the biggest time waster in your business. When you're intentional about which meetings you have and disciplined about how you run them, you give your team clarity and more time back in their day to actually do work. So don't meet just to meet. Lead your meetings with purpose because when meetings run well, the whole organization runs better. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to like, share and subscribe for more great leadership content. I'm your host Dave Ramsey and this is Entree Leadership.