Why 25-minute meetings should be the standard

I’m not sure when the one-hour meeting became the default but I can’t stand it. We’ve all become victims of our own calendars as laid out by Microsoft, Google or Apple.

I’d like to propose that a 25-minute meeting should be the default meeting period.

The 25-Minute Format

5 minutes to say hello and goodbye.

15 minutes to figure out what you want/need, or for me to tell you what I want/need.

Then we maybe need a further 5 minutes to figure out how we go about getting those things accomplished.

Short and Sweet

When someone receives a 25-minute meeting request they should really be thinking about why they want to have a meeting at all. What exactly is it that they’d like to discuss in this short amount of time? Is it relevant or necessary to meet at all and will there be any actionable points that emerge from the meeting?

Will one, both or neither of the parties benefit in any way at all?

Broad is Boring

When a meeting is set up for some vague, broad and exploratory reason I’m willing to bet that it’s a faffing meeting. You know, those meetings where you were both introduced by a mutual acquaintance who thought “there might be some synergy between you two.” Those meetings end well before the 25 minute limit is up but neither party is willing to end the awkwardness because of the enforced hour long time limit.

Be specific and come to a meeting with a plan. A plan that can be explained and taken forward after 25 minutes. Preferably a meeting agenda will have been shared prior to the meeting.

Traveling

It’s easy to justify the effort it takes to get to an hour-long meeting. But in truth it’s an utter waste of your time if the meeting isn’t effective.

Drive 15 minutes to the meeting, talk rubbish for 40 minutes, talk about actual work for 15, then the obligatory 5-10 minutes to say hello and goodbye and then drive 15-60 minutes back to the office or home depending on the traffic situation. Just typing that paragraph felt cumbersome to me.

I want people to really think hard about the value of the meeting when they accept a 25 minute meet up. I want them to really consider the fact that they’ll be driving for longer than we’ll actually meet for.

If the meeting has great value then it is absolutely worth the time and effort it takes to get there. But if you’re just meeting me to fill up your day so you feel busy and can say you did something, then best to just keep it at 25 minutes and hope the person is lazy enough that they’ll just talk to you over email.

Action

When I come out of a meeting I want to launch into action with items that I’ve racked up during the meeting. I want to be enthusiastic and productive and believe that I spent my valuable time well.

I often like to email the person I’ve just met with to thank for the meeting and with a list of things I am hoping to accomplish post-meeting. Action is imperative.

Meetingless Meetings

An entire hour is a long time to try to fill with valuable content. Sometimes there is enough to contribute and discuss and there is definitely room for the hour long meeting in certain scenarios. But the truth is that you can extract the value you need (have your meeting) without actually meeting someone.

25 minute meetings force you to consider if it’s faster to just email through questions to someone your require information from. Or, if you can fathom it, actually call or Skype that person.

There are quicker ways to extract value out of people in the technologically advanced era that we live in.

Face to Face

Obviously there is massive value in meeting with people face to face. There is something special and tangible about sitting in front of someone, reading their facial expressions and body language and negotiating for what you want in person.

However this is not the case for every single meeting and I’d even argue that less than 50% of meetings need to be in person.

It’s time to take back ownership of our time and the basis of what meetings are, what they are for and how long we want them to be.

The truth is there is no simple answer to the question of “How long is a valuable meeting?” But I propose that we start with 25 minutes and work our way out from there, not the other way around.

Don’t let your calendar decide the value of your time.