It never fails. There is always a meeting that could have been an email. It is clear in the agenda, yet no one intervened to say wait, do we need this meeting? Here are the ten most common offenders.

 

1. The Entire Agenda Was Status Updates 

Everything is fine. The project is on track. The event is coming together. Nobody needed to decide anything. A shared doc would have covered it and given everyone back an hour of their life.

2. The Urgent Issue Resolved Itself Before Anyone Showed Up

Someone felt strongly about a thing that needed to be solved immediately. A meeting got scheduled. And somewhere between the calendar invite and the actual meeting, the thing got fixed. Now everyone is sitting in a room while the chair tries to fill the next 40 minutes. This is about to become an impromptu talent show, I can feel it.

3. The Vote Was Unanimous Before Anyone Spoke

No discussion. No dissent. A motion, a second, and seven ayes. You skipped lunch to finish that thing at work, made arrangements to have your kiddo picked up and fought traffic to drive across town to approve $30 for printer paper. Congratulations.

4. The Treasurer's Report

Same expenses. Same vendors. Same line items. Nothing is wrong and nothing is new. If this is the only action item, the finances can wait until we meet next month.

5. The Announcement Could Have Gone in the Group Chat

The event is Saturday. Volunteers arrive at nine. Parking is in the back. This information did not require everyone to be in the same room. It required someone to hit send.

6. Half the Meeting Was Spent Catching Up the People Who Did Not Read the Packet

The packet went out four days ago. Three people did not read it. The meeting became a live dramatic reading of the packet. For everyone. Including the people who read it.

7. The Committee Had Nothing to Report

They meet quarterly and gave an update last month. But since they are on the agenda they speak anyway. For five minutes. About nothing.

8. The Decision Had Already Been Made

Leadership made the call, which they were fully authorized to do, and then scheduled a meeting to tell everyone about it. Somewhere a reply-all is feeling very underutilized.

9. The Item Was Tabled. Again.

It was not ready last month. It is not ready this month. At this point the item has attended more meetings than some of the board members.

10. The Meeting Was About the Last Meeting

The only agenda item was approving the minutes from the last meeting, which was also just approving minutes. A meeting about a meeting. If you have seen Inception, you already understand what happened here.

Before You Put That Meeting on the Calendar, Make Sure It Has at Least One of These:

• A decision that requires a vote and warrants the group's time
• A discussion that genuinely benefits from real time back and forth
• A problem that needs to be worked through together before anyone can move forward
• News or a development that will generate questions the group needs to work through live

If none of these apply, you already know what to do.

Note to the Chair

Before the agenda goes out, ask yourself: does this meeting need to happen? There are always things to discuss, but the real questions are whether those things require everyone in the same room and whether they are timely or can wait until the next scheduled meeting. That gut check takes two minutes and can save the entire board hours. Canceling a meeting every now and then is a luxury, and sometimes the most thoughtful thing you can do with a volunteer's time is give it back to them.

The Toolkit

Dont be this person. Check out:
What Makes a Good Agenda Template
Build a Better Meeting Agenda
Your Newest Board Member: AI

Some links may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only share tools that I use or recommend.

↑ Back to Top

← Back to All Resources