If a machine broke down you'd get it fixed.
Why not fix your meetings?
Let me ask you something. If a piece of equipment in your workplace stopped working — a printer, a forklift, a computer — how long would you leave it broken? Not long. Because you’d understand that broken equipment costs time, money, and morale. You’d get it fixed.
So here’s the uncomfortable question: why do so many organisations tolerate broken meetings?
I’m talking about the leader who can’t present with any confidence. The manager who runs meetings that go nowhere. The executive whose team leaves every briefing more confused than when they walked in. These aren’t personality quirks — they’re performance failures. And they’re fixable. The cost of poor meetings is invisible on a spreadsheet but brutally visible in culture, engagement, and results. Teams disengage. Talent walks. Opportunities are missed because the message never landed.
There are three factors: Too many meetings. They go for too long. They are not productive. I cannot remember the number of times I have been told that a meeting was held to decide whether to hold a meeting.
So if meetings are so universally disliked, why don’t they get fixed? Some say its because no-one cares. The most common reason is habit and complacency – people are so used to broken meetings that they think they can’t be fixed.
Well, I dispute that.
Broken meetings can be fixed and the fixes are relatively simple. When I go into an organisation to do an impartial meeting diagnostic, I nearly always see the same 3 problems:
Of course there are lot more reasons than those 3 but the fixes are simple. The good news? Communication is a skill. And skills can be learned, practised, and dramatically improved. You don’t have to tolerate broken. You just have to decide it’s worth fixing — and then actually fix it. If you’d like to fix your meetings, call me in to do a Meeting Diagnostic – you’ll be surprised at what I find. David Price I fix broken meetings 0418 888 018 |