Then, I look at every single meeting of that week to make sure it belongs. If I’m invited to something and I don’t know what it’s about, I’ll shoot an e-mail to the organizer asking about the agenda. If I have a regularly scheduled 1:1 with somebody but I don’t have anything to discuss with them, I suggest we cancel for that week
On the other hand, if I anticipate asking a lot of clarifying questions, or if the issue being discussed is complex and subtle and I really need to understand the nuances to do my job well, I will attend even if I don’t expect to be an active participant.
For regular meetings that I run or attend with more than 5 people, I tend to be much more critical of how useful and efficient the meeting is. More than 80% of the attendees should find the meeting useful and well-run. If a bunch of them are on their phones or computers doing other work, that’s a good signal the meeting should be revamped.
