Do you waste important time in unimportant meetings?

One of the most frequently mentioned pain points I hear from leaders is "I waste so much time in meetings".
Too many meetings feel unproductive, exhausting, or disorganized. Instead, meetings should accelerate progress, help you stay aligned with your team, your stakeholders.
It doesn't feel good to attend a meeting while you're mentally and emotionally checked out, or you're trying to multi-task (which is highly unproductive btw).

Here are a couple of strategies to consider for each meeting you attend this week:

1. ASK FOR KEY OBJECTIVE
If a meeting doesn't have an agenda or a clear objective, push back. Ask the organizer - what is the desired outcome of the meeting?

2. USE THE RACI FRAMEWORK
If you're not responsible or accountable for the key items discussed or project, do you really need to be there? If you're a passive participant, just there to be 'in the know' could that meeting can be an email update?

I know, these are super basic and deceivingly simple strategies, and they do work. You'll be surprised to see how much more efficient you can be when you intentionally employ them.
Think extra time for doing work that actually moves the needle. And you get extra points for modeling healthy habits for your team.