Measure Meeting Time and Protect Deep Work Blocks

A one-hour meeting with ten people equals ten person-hours. Beyond the length shown on the calendar, meetings can also break up the work blocks before and after them.

Two perspectives on the same problem

The first video asks how many resources the business is spending on meetings. The next one explains why a team that is always in meetings can still lack uninterrupted time for hard tasks.

Focus time in the video refers to work blocks that are rarely interrupted by meetings, chat or constant task switching. Data on meeting hours and person-hours helps managers pick which meetings deserve a closer look.

Schedule meetings at the right time

The video offers an illustrative scenario: a team usually meets around 2–4 PM, which overlaps with its prime focus hours, so the manager considers moving the stand-up to 9 AM. This is an example of adjusting based on one team's data, not a standard schedule for every business.

Start with one small change

Pick one recurring meeting and clarify its purpose and who truly needs to attend. See whether it can be shortened, partly replaced with a written update or moved to another time. After the change, check both collaboration and output progress to see whether the new arrangement works.

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