11 Better Ways to Manage Teams Without Tedious Meetings

As a firm evangelist of the values of asynchronous communications, I’m strongly opinionated when it comes to meetings. Meetings are not all evil. I’ve covered some workarounds for meetings (when necessary) and several reasons to set up a meeting. But beyond that, meeting creep is so prevalent—especially in the context of remote/hybrid environments—that productivity and work satisfaction are almost non-existent right now.  According to a study led by Microsoft, virtual meeting hours increased by 252 percent. As a result, today’s experts (including me), are full of suggestions for improving meetings or simply how to avoid them. I have two businesses… Continue Reading

8 Reasons Why Setting Up a Meeting Is a Must

Most business meetings "should" have been an email.  If the company is large and has more stakeholders, then the slower and heavier the processes become. This eventually leads to more meetings with less work being done.  However, not all meetings are bad. And it is really important to know, as discussed in my previous post and video, that planning the meeting, writing and laying down the agenda, and strategizing can help facilitate a meeting and turn it into an effective venture. What we have discovered is that some meetings can become profitable by just thinking through the right strategies, brainstorming… Continue Reading

8 Specific Tips to Work Around Business Meetings

Time is money. Time lost means money lost. Time wasted means money wasted.  One of the leading causes behind businesses losing and wasting a lot of time and money is the amount of time they spend in business meetings. Middle managers typically spend 35% of their time in meetings while those who belong to the upper management spend 50% of their time. Employees, in general, spend up to four hours every week just to prepare for status update meetings. According to Bain and Company, 15% of the collective time of an organization is spent in business meetings and this has… Continue Reading

16 Reasons Why I Don’t Pick Up My Phone

Back when I decided to no longer pick up my phone in 2014 or so, I was considered nuts by everyone around me. Nowadays, more and more of my friends and colleagues have adopted this practice, thanks to the endless number of sales calls (and even worse: robocalls). According to a TNS report (quoted on Forbes), Americans receive over 200 million unwanted robocalls every single day. This madness has caused a major distress in the telecom industry. Even worse, legitimate phone calls are now missed frequently. I've missed at least a couple of dentist appointments simply because they called from… Continue Reading