The Meeting Diet: Trim the Fat, Keep the Purpose

I’ve been trying to lose 5 pounds (okay—10 if I’m being honest) before my upcoming high school reunion. Which, as it turns out, is a lot like cutting down on meetings. Both sound simple in theory—eat less, meet less—yet the hard part is trimming the excess without cutting what’s actually important.

Meetings are like food: some are nourishing, others are pure junk. The goal isn’t to put your team on a starvation plan—it’s to cut out the donut-level time wasters and keep the protein-packed essentials. A good meeting should leave people energized, not bloated.

I once sat through a 45-minute meeting where the grand conclusion was… “Let’s send an email.” That was it. Forty-five minutes of empty carbs—no protein, no substance. Just a sugar crash for the brain.

Here’s how to put your meetings on a diet plan:

• Have a purpose. If the purpose is “because we always do this,” that’s a stale breadstick. Toss it.

• Set an agenda. Think of it as portion control—without it, people will load their plates with side conversations you never ordered.

• End with actions. The main course should be next steps, not another helping of “let’s circle back.”

Pro tip: Replace one of your hour-long sit-down buffets with a 15-minute stand-up snack. Standing is like the celery stick of meetings—crisp, lean, and over before anyone complains.

Trim one recurring meeting—or cut it in half. Your calendar will lose weight fast, and your team will thank you for putting them on the healthiest plan of all: fewer meetings, more action.