Why Meetings? Meetings are everywhere—so common, they fade into the background. With more than 11 million meetings happening every day in the U.S. alone, we’ve come to treat them like office wallpaper: bland, unremarkable, and not worth examining. But ubiquity doesn’t mean harmless. Many of us have quietly resigned ourselves to the idea that meetings just are—unchangeable, unfixable, and inevitably unproductive. That resignation comes at a cost. Most meetings are poorly designed, poorly facilitated, and, frankly, a waste of time. In this post, we’ll take a clear-eyed look at what makes meetings stink—and what you can actually do about it.
1. Meeting For the Wrong Purpose
Meetings stink when they’re used to simply inform—sharing updates or announcing decisions that have already been made (things that don’t require a live audience). Meetings stink when attendance is mandatory, regardless of whether someone’s input or presence actually matters. Meetings stink when the person calling it assumes everyone cares as much as they do—a combo that drains time, energy, and goodwill. Antidote: Convene meetings to learn, not inform. Be clear about the intended outcome and the expectations for participants.
2. No Meeting Prep and Inadequate/Recycled Agendas
Meetings stink when the agenda is simply a list of topics to discuss with no clear purpose or outcome. They stink when participants aren’t asked for input ahead of time and end up just listening passively. They stink when the agenda is arranged to tackle the easy, low-stakes stuff first—giving them too much airtime—while the high-stakes decisions get crammed into the last five minutes. They especially stink when the agenda is recycled from the last meeting—no fresh thinking, no signal that preparation matters. That kind of autopilot approach tells everyone this meeting isn’t worth their commitment. Antidote: Organize the agenda as a series of questions to answer rather than issues to discuss and circulate it in advance.
3. Lazy meeting facilitation
Meetings stink when the facilitator leads the group straight to a pre-decided conclusion—or worse, just runs out the clock and calls that progress. They stink when there’s no declared decision-making process, so no one knows their role, what’s expected of them, or when they’re done. They stink when a few confident voices dominate, ideas aren’t gathered broadly, and fake consensus passes for agreement. And they really stink when psychological safety is low—people hold back questions, concerns, or dissent because they’re afraid of being judged, dismissed, or ignored. Antidote: Facilitate rather than lead the meeting. For people who have been quiet, draw them into the conversation by name. Be transparent. Encourage—rather than avoid—constructive conflict and creative friction. Ask, “What else is there?” “What’s another way of looking at this?” “How might this be wrong?”
4. No accountability to outcomes
Meetings stink when they just… end. Time’s up, nothing’s resolved, and nobody’s clear on what happens next. Meetings stink when people don’t share their reasoning, don’t clarify expectations, and don’t jointly agree on next steps. Then they stink even more when participants meet again afterward—not to move things forward, but to vent, gossip, or quietly resist. When the real conversation happens outside the meeting, the meeting failed. And worse: the cost of the meeting after the meeting is trust. Antidote: Restate the original question and ask, “Have we nailed it? Does everyone know what they’re doing now?” Get agreement and commitment. Conduct plus/delta about the meeting itself.
5. Too many people and/or the wrong people are included
Meetings stink when too many people are in the room for a meaningful exchange of ideas. They’re made worse when people show up just because they were invited (after having been invited simply as a courtesy). If attendees don’t care about the topic or can’t contribute relevant information, they don’t need to be there. Presence without purpose wastes everyone’s time. And if you’re in the room but not adding value, consider giving up your seat. Antidote: Invite the fewest number of people you can get away with and still have a meaningful conversation. Look for contribution, not just attendance.
Thank you to Andrea Applegate with Applegate Talent Strategies for providing this valuable information.
About Applegate Talent Strategies:
A lot of leadership development advice focuses on individual performance. That’s important—but it’s not enough. The real leverage point in any organization is how people work together. At Applegate Talent Strategies, we help teams and leaders become more effective by shifting how they think, talk, and make decisions—together. We help your people work together more effectively. Contact Andrea Applegate to learn more.