Harvard Business Review Guides Ultimate Boxed Set (16 Books)

CHAPTER 8

Meetings Need a Shot Clock

by Bob Frisch and Cary Greene

We’ve all been invited to meetings with agendas so long that it’s impossible to cover every item. The early speakers run long. The early proposals get debated. But those at the end get short shrift or are tabled until the next gathering, even if they’re equally important.

How can you avoid this problem? One option is to limit your ambitions, to be more realistic about what you can get done in the hour or hours you’re meeting. Simply resign yourself to covering less. In our view, however, there’s a better solution, one that allows you to accomplish more while still ensuring that each person or topic gets adequate time. As crazy as it sounds, the answer is a shot clock. Yes, an ...