I’ll be honest: Most meetings are a waste of time.
You’ve got someone hopping on late, someone multitasking in their car, and someone else talking in circles. Meanwhile, you're silently screaming, ‘This could’ve been an email.’
Or a Slack. Or a quick Loom.
And most of the time? You’d be right.
But here’s the thing: Meetings can work. They can be clear, decisive, even energizing. The key is designing them that way – every single time.
At BELAY, we’re a fully remote company with hundreds of team members, spread across time zones. We’ve had to get ruthlessly good at this. Why? Because meetings that drift waste momentum. They steal clarity. They drain your highest performers.
So we built a system that cuts the noise and keeps us moving, and in this video, I break down exactly how.
Let’s talk about the six biggest meeting problems I see inside companies and what we’ve learned about solving each one.
1. No Guardrails
You know these meetings.
People show up unprepared, the conversation bounces around, and nothing actually gets decided.
High performers hate these — and for good reason. They’re chaotic, they’re time-wasters, and they’re completely avoidable.
At BELAY, we’ve set guardrails:
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- Meetings start on time.
- They end on time
- No more than seven people in the room. (Harvard and McKinsey back this, by the way.)
- We follow a time-blocked agenda that keeps us on task and outcome-focused.
If it’s a 45-minute meeting, we plan it in 7–10-minute blocks. That agenda isn’t optional; it’s the backbone of the conversation.
2. It Should’ve Been an Email
We’ve all been there — 30 minutes into a call thinking, ‘Why am I even here?’
If your meeting is just a string of updates, stop. That’s a Slack thread. That’s a Friday email. That’s a Loom video. But it’s not a meeting.
If you’re not using that time to make decisions or move something forward, take it off the calendar.
3. Too Many People
More voices don’t equal better decisions.
In fact, the more people in the room, the less candor you get. Big voices dominate. Others hold back. Or worse, everyone’s trying to weigh in, and nothing actually moves.
We follow Bezos’s two-pizza rule: if two pizzas can’t feed the group, it’s too big. Meetings are for decision-makers and experts, period.
4. Too Much Agreement, Not Enough Insight
These are the ‘yes, and…’ meetings where everyone nods along, adds their two cents, and no one challenges the direction.
That’s not collaboration; it’s avoidance.
At BELAY, we have a culture rule: If something feels off, you speak up. We call it hunting the elephant.
If there’s a hard truth no one’s talking about, bring it up. And we welcome the contrarian.
Disagreement is how we make better decisions. If everyone’s agreeing, we’re probably missing something.
5. The Topic Expands to Fill the Time
If you give someone 30 minutes to present, they’ll take 30, even if the point could’ve been made in 10. That’s just human nature.
So we limit time by design.
Want to pitch a lead gen strategy? You’ve got 10 minutes. That’s it. Come prepared. Get to the crux.
The goal isn’t to fill time; it’s to make decisions.
And if you’re in a meeting where you haven’t added value to the conversation? That might not be your meeting to attend.
6. No Margin Between Meetings
Back-to-back-to-back calls might make your calendar look full, but they don’t make you a better leader.
If you’re always in meetings, when are you thinking? When are you reflecting? If you’re not building 15-minute buffers into your day, you’re not leading; you’re reacting.
And the best ideas? They don’t happen when you're rushing from one Zoom link to the next.
The truth is, bad meetings aren’t just annoying; they’re costly. They waste time, energy, and opportunity.
But with the right design, meetings can drive strategy, spark insight, and align your team fast.
So if you’re tired of meetings that drain instead of deliver, watch the full video. I walk through each of these mistakes in more detail, with real examples from inside our company. Better meetings aren’t about more structure; they’re about better structure.
And if you want even more breathing room in your week, grab our free 40-Hour Workweek Planning Guide. It’s linked in the video description.
Let’s stop wasting time. Let’s start leading better.