A meeting creates work before and after the time shown in the invitation. People prepare, reconstruct context, record decisions and carry out follow-up. When those tasks have no place in the calendar, they are pushed into other meetings or outside the intended working day.
Review the whole arrangement before deciding whether the meeting itself is too long.
Identify what the session must produce
Choose a recurring meeting and name its purpose. If it is meant to decide, state the question and provide the evidence beforehand. If it mainly distributes information, test whether a written update can handle part of the work.
Invite the people needed to contribute or act. A broad attendance list can conceal who actually owns the result.
Account for preparation and closure
Allow participants enough time to read the material and finish commitments afterward. End with the decision, owner and next review condition in a form people can use.
Try one change for a month. Track whether the work moves sooner, whether people arrive prepared and whether fewer issues require another meeting.
Do not judge success by the number of meetings removed alone. A cancelled session that reappears as dozens of private messages may not have reduced the cost. Keep the arrangement that makes coordination and decisions more dependable.
