If time is money, then ineffective meetings might be your organisation’s most expensive habit.
We’ve all been in them: meetings that spiral, stall and stretch into oblivion. No agenda. No direction. No end in sight.
But listless meetings are more than a mere nuisance – they’re a culture killer, a productivity sinkhole and a strategic risk.
So what’s going wrong? Here are the 7 deadly sins of meetings in the workplace.
SIN #1: SLOTH – Turning up unprepared
You arrive to the meeting, coffee in hand, stakeholders assembled – and realise no one knows why they’re actually there.
You were given no pre-reading. No context. So the room is full of blank stares and polite small talk until you look around to eventually ask: Why are we all here?
If the host doesn’t have a clear answer, stakeholders will lose buy-in. And fast.
The worst part? In large organisations, unpreparedness is contagious. When one person comes in cold, others mirror the energy. Multiply that across teams and you’ve got a sluggish meeting culture that eats up hours without generating outcomes.
Disengaged peers, duplicated work and delayed decisions: the infernal side-effects of sloth.
THE CURE: Effective meetings start well before anyone enters the room. Leaders must set the cultural tone. They should state the preparation required in the invitation (e.g. Review pages 2–5 of the briefing note and come ready to discuss implementation risks). Then, they should open the meeting with a one-sentence objective to align everyone from the outset.
SIN #2: GLUTTONY – Inviting everyone
Do meeting invitation lists in your workplace often include everyone who’s ever so much as glanced at your project?
That’s a burning red flag.
Inviting every stakeholder ‘just in case’ creates bloated meetings where half the people don’t even speak – and probably shouldn’t be there in the first place. It dilutes accountability and kills momentum.
That’s not even to mention the wage waste.
A good rule of thumb? Next time you’re putting together your guest list, calculate the collective hourly rate of everyone you want in the room. Then, ask yourself honestly: Could this be an email?
THE CURE: Limit attendance to those with a clear decision-making role or direct input to offer at this stage. Keep others informed through a concise follow-up summary, respecting their time while maintaining transparency.
SIN #3: PRIDE – No agenda
No, we don’t want people who lead our meetings to ‘figure it out as they go’.
Too often, meetings are booked with a vague title and no agenda. That’s pride talking: the assumption that the meeting will magically deliver value because smart people are in the room.
But smart people without a plan still waste time.
Ego-packed meetings tend to spiral into tangents, get lost in irrelevant discussions or get stuck on status updates (on entirely different projects).
And we all know what that means: they’ll almost certainly need to book another meeting.
THE CURE: Prepare a time‑boxed agenda with clear objectives, owners and desired outcomes. Share this with participants the day before. Refer to it as the meeting opens so the discussion stays anchored to the plan.
SIN #4: WRATH – Hijacking the conversation
Ever seen a meeting derailed by one person’s pet project or personal gripe? Or a heated debate that sucks all the oxygen from the room?
Yep, we’ve all been there!
But when strong personalities dominate the conversation or vent their frustrations unchecked? Collaboration dies, resentment thrives and people tune out. Or worse, stop contributing altogether.
Psychological safety takes a hit, silencing the quieter voices in the room. And often, they’re the ones who bring the sharpest insights.
THE CURE: Nominate a neutral facilitator or rotate the role each meeting to keep conversation balanced and respectful. Set ground rules up front (such as ‘one voice at a time’) and actively invite quieter participants to share their perspectives.
SIN #5: ENVY – Ignoring the right stakeholders
It’s not always about who’s in the room. Sometimes, it’s about who’s not.
When relevant team members are left out, jealousy can creep in. People wonder why they weren’t invited, question others’ influence and feel sidelined from decisions that affect their work.
This breeds passive-aggressive ‘I would’ve liked to have been consulted’ emails and risks fanning the flames of trust breakdowns. Meanwhile, teams waste time backtracking, re-explaining and repairing relationships.
It risks people disengaging entirely. Because while a one-off meeting exclusion might seem minor in the moment, its impacts on project flow and culture are anything but.
THE CURE: Map stakeholders at the planning stage: who must approve, who will lead tasks – and who should simply be kept in the loop. Circulate key decisions afterwards so no one feels blindsided or overlooked.
SIN #6: GREED – Expecting to solve everything NOW
One meeting can’t fix a broken system, solve global warming and redesign the periodic table. Yet, that’s exactly what some agendas seem to aim for.
In the push to be efficient, teams often overpack meetings with too many topics, too many voices and too little breathing room. And instead of driving efficiency, this greedy approach overwhelms participants, rushes important conversations and leaves issues half-resolved.
What follows is a cascade of follow-up meetings that feel just as chaotic. And a workforce that’s stretched thin.
THE CURE: Remember the golden rule: Less really is more. Limit each meeting to a manageable agenda – ideally three priority items. If new topics emerge, note them and schedule a separate session.
SIN #7: LUST – Falling for the illusion of ‘collaboration’
Some meetings are dressed up as collaboration, but there’s little substance underneath.
Just because people are sitting around a table – or on a screen together – doesn’t mean meaningful progress is happening.
What often plays out instead is performative alignment: people nodding along and mumbling vague agreements. Then… nothing.
These meetings might feel productive, but they’re just professional rituals – going through the motions without any real exchange of ideas, challenges or directions.
True collaboration doesn’t require more meetings. It requires clarity, safety and purpose. Without that, you’re left with a hollow sense of progress and a to-do list that only starts after the meeting ends – if it starts at all.
THE CURE: Provide pre‑meeting readings and actions – so collaboration is primed to happen during, not after, the session. Use live documents to capture ideas and close with clear actions so enthusiasm converts to execution.
Need a roadmap out of mindless meetings?
Do unproductive discussions leave your team drained and directionless? Then create a team culture and structured system where quality meetings are bound to happen.
Our interactive course, Leading Effective Meetings, equips your team with the skills and strategies to drive efficient, engaging meetings. Internally and externally.
Picture meetings done right, where:
- Leaders step into 25‑minute strategy sessions that start on the dot, move with purpose and end with a one‑page decision record everyone has agreed to.
- Calendars have more white space than coloured blocks – reclaiming (many) hours each week for high-value work.
- Projects glide forward because the right people were in the room and other voices were free to focus elsewhere.
When you elevate how your team plans and participates in meetings? Trust deepens, projects accelerate and your people become energised to proceed with purpose.
Want to transform your meeting culture from burden to benefit? Check out our Leading Effective Meetings team training today.