You might have heard about Jeff Bezos’ very strict approach to meetings at Amazon. A few of his rules really stand out:
- One is that he would simply leave meetings that weren’t properly prepared.
- Another is his famous two-pizza rule — if it takes more than two pizzas to feed everyone in the room, there are too many people in the meeting.
Behind those rules is a very clear understanding:
meetings can easily become one of the biggest drains on our time and energy.
In this video, I want to share one simple practice that can make you much more ruthless — and much more effective — with the meetings you attend.
I work with busy leaders all around the world, and I think I can safely say this: every single one of them complains about meetings:
- Too many
- Unclear outcomes
- Poorly organised
And a lot of time spent without much value.
I once came across an anonymous quote that made me smile — and cringe at the same time:
“If I die, I hope it’s during a meeting, because the transition to death would be so subtle.”
Meetings are a real issue.
So here’s a simple exercise I often use with leadership teams. I ask them to think about their meetings in three colours.
Green meetings
These are the good ones.
They are clear, well-run, and productive.
You leave feeling energised, aligned, and knowing exactly what needs to happen next.
Orange meetings
These meetings need to happen — but they could be much better.
Maybe the agenda wasn’t clear.
Maybe the right people weren’t in the room.
They’re okay-ish, but slightly frustrating.
Red meetings
These are the painful ones.
Meetings that simply should not have happened at all.
A complete waste of time and energy.
Looking Back… and Looking Forward… This exercise is very simple.
First, look back over the last two weeks.
Open your calendar. Go through each meeting and ask yourself: Was this green, orange, or red?
For the orange and red meetings, I ask one powerful question:
Knowing what you know now, what could have been done to make this meeting better — or unnecessary?
Then we do the same exercise looking forward. Look at the next two weeks in your calendar.
Which meetings do you expect to be green, orange, or red?
And if you see orange or red meetings coming up, ask yourself: What can I do now to move this meeting closer to green?
It always amazes me how, through this simple reflection, people realise they can save several hours a week — sometimes without cancelling a single meeting, simply by improving how they’re run.
So here’s my question for you: What would your calendar look like — and how would your energy feel — if you only had green meetings?
This is this week’s Work Smarter: Live Better tip.
Hope you have a lovely day!
A bientôt,
Cyril
