Connect & Communicate: Insights from Lenneage Consulting

Meetings. The necessary evil of project management. In an ideal world, they’d be short, efficient, and actually useful. In reality? Half of them could have been emails, someone always derails the conversation, and at least one person will be on mute without realizing it.

So, how do you turn meetings from soul-sucking time wasters into productive power sessions? Let’s break it down.

Step 1: Ask the Million-Dollar Question—Do We Even Need This Meeting?

Before you block off another hour of everyone’s life, ask yourself: Can this be handled via email, Slack, or a shared document?

Do all these people actually need to be in the room?
Do we have a clear goal, or are we just meeting because we always do?

If the answer to any of these is no, cancel the meeting. People will silently (or not so silently) thank you.

Step 2: The Agenda is Your Lifeline

A meeting without an agenda is just a group therapy session for project stress. Keep everyone focused by setting an agenda beforehand and making sure it answers these key questions: What are we here to accomplish?

What decisions need to be made?
Who is responsible for what?
How much time do we actually need?

Pro Tip: If your agenda is just “general updates,” rethink whether you need a meeting or just a status email.

Step 3: Set the Tone (a.k.a. No Free-for-Alls)

Meetings derail for a few key reasons: The Talker – The person who goes on a 10-minute tangent about an unrelated topic.
The Overthinker – Someone who turns a simple decision into a philosophical debate.
The Ghost – The attendee who never contributes but still gets invited to everything.
The Multi-Tasker – They're in the meeting, but they're actually writing emails or scrolling Twitter.

To keep things on track: Set time limits for discussions – If a topic is spiraling, move it to a separate working session.
✅ Use a “parking lot” – If someone brings up something off-topic, table it for later.
✅ Assign clear action items – Every meeting should end with decisions made and tasks assigned.

Step 4: Keep Meetings Short, Sweet, and Actionable

The golden rule: If you schedule an hour, it’ll take an hour. If you schedule 30 minutes, it’ll take 30 minutes.

Default to shorter meetings – Try 15- or 30-minute blocks instead of 60 minutes.
End early if possible – Just because you booked an hour doesn’t mean you have to use it.
Start on time, end on time – If people know you won’t wait for stragglers, they’ll show up.

Step 5: The Follow-Up is Where the Magic Happens

Meetings without follow-ups are just expensive conversations. If you want things to actually get done:  Summarize key takeaways – What was decided? Who owns what? What’s next? Send action items within 24 hours – If no one knows what they’re supposed to do, nothing will happen.  Hold people accountable – If someone agreed to do something, check in before the next meeting.

Final Thoughts: Meetings Don’t Have to Suck

Great meetings are rare but possible. If you: Only schedule meetings when they’re necessary and keep them structured and to the point. When we do this we make sure people walk away knowing what to do next so in the end you’ll save yourself (and everyone else) hours of wasted time.

And maybe—just maybe—you’ll be known as the PM who actually runs meetings people don’t hate.