How many Zoom calls have you participated in this past week? I’m gonna venture to say it’s been a LOT.

I was asked the following question on a call: “What worked for you during quarantine that you kept in place when things got back to normal?” My reply: “I like how we seem to be very mindful of when and how meetings are scheduled. Maybe we can keep that in place.”

Now that businesses are opening up and things are relatively back to “normal,” it’s a good time to revisit how you prioritize meetings. Executives spend nearly 23 hours a week in meetings, according to the Harvard Business Review. Let that sink in a little. That’s a TON of time spent in meetings.

There are two essential things you can do to help with meeting management:

  1. If what will be shared is information-based, put it in an email.

  2. If you need to collaborate and receive feedback, schedule a meeting.

Furthermore, if you need to receive feedback, be very specific ahead of time regarding what you’re looking to accomplish. This will keep your meetings efficient, effective … and all of those people who attend Zoom meetings who can’t ever get their video feed to work (you KNOW they’re having a cocktail!), they may jump in and participate too.

This article was republished with permission from www.heatherlisle.com.