Meetings are temporary committees.

Nothing great gets done by committees.

Typically meetings are the exact opposite of actual work. They are a way of avoiding work, a way for egos to inflate, and a great way to waste time.

If you must have a meeting… and I mean if you really MUST… here are three tips to minimize the damage:

1. Keep it to 15 minutes or less. Use a timer! Be ruthless.

2. No speeches. Consider a 2-minute rule: no speaking for more than 2 minutes by any one person.

3. Stand up. No sitting. And no snacks, no drinks, and no handouts (if you can put it on a handout or in an email… why are you wasting my time with a meeting?).

This all applies to phone meetings too.