It’s 2pm, you’re sitting in a conference room with 5 other people. The discussion is going along, jumping from one topic to the next. This has been going on for a few minutes now, yet you don’t feel like things are getting anywhere.

When sitting in a meeting, if you’re unsure of what exactly is necessary to accomplish in order to be able to leave the room then you’re most likely wasting your time. Additionally, if you’re unaware of why you were invited – don’t attend the meeting, at least not before you are given a reason.

This all boils down to having clear agendas as part of your company’s work meetings. And that starts with management. If you put on the schedule projects status meetings without a clear agenda and objectives, you’re doing your team a disservice twice.

First, since they will all just shuffle along to the meeting, not being prepared or doing the necessary thinking or learning beforehand in order to be helpful. Having 7 people sit in a room and jointly skim through a document quickly is not efficient use of anyone’s time.

Furthermore, as your team learns that this is an acceptable form of meeting, or even the norm, they will in turn do the same. Calling a meeting without a set goal to waste 5 people’s time is hardly a good use of your employees’ day and company dime.

And, assuming you’re aware of the hacker’s schedule, you should always keep in mind the major cost every interruption to the workday has on your team. Even if you’re able to run along to the next thing on your agenda, most people end up wasting time before and after meetings going in and out of flow.

Make agendas a part of your culture. Make meetings worth it. And make them as scarce as you can.