Reports show that more than 80% of employees spend up to a third of their workweek in meetings, but how much of that time is truly productive? For many agencies, meetings drag on, lack clear outcomes, and end up wasting valuable time that could be spent driving results.
We spoke with Kimberly Lipari, CEO of Valet.io, to learn how her agency transformed meetings into efficient and action-oriented sessions. Kimberly shared key strategies, including the use of meeting action items, and the Holacracy meeting structure.
Here’s what we learned about mastering productive team meetings.
| Listen to the full podcast episode: Productive team meetings with Kimberly Lipari |
Main indicators of inefficient meetings
Many agencies face similar issues that make their meetings unproductive. Kimberly Lipari and her agency were plagued with the same problem, and this is how she described it:
If your team is in the same situation, try identifying major challenges that prevent the entire organization from being more productive. Here are some of the main suspects:
1. Meetings that run too long
One of the most frequent complaints about meetings is how long they tend to run. What starts as a 15-minute check-in, often turns into an hour-long discussion, without clear outcomes. This wastes everyone’s time and leads to disengagement because team members are mentally checking out before the meeting ends.
2. Lack of clear objectives
Another challenge is when meetings don’t have a clear purpose. Discussions tend to meander without a defined goal, and team members leave without knowing what the next steps are. Productive meetings need a focused agenda to make sure everyone stays on track.
3. Poor follow-through on action items
Even if a meeting does manage to set action items, those tasks often fall through the cracks without proper follow-up. Teams end up discussing the same issues week after week, with little to no progress being made.
4. Unnecessary participants
It’s common for meetings to include too many people, some of whom don’t actually need to be there. This leads to disengagement and frustration because employees feel like their time is being wasted.
5. Communication silos
In agencies, cross-functional teams like development and design need to collaborate closely. However, these teams will often end up working in silos without structured communication in meetings.
How to structure productive team meetings
Effective meetings don’t just happen — they require intentional planning and structure. A productive meeting structure typically includes:
- A clear agenda: This should outline the meeting’s purpose and the specific topics to be discussed. It helps participants to come prepared and keeps the meeting on track.
- Time limits: To prevent meetings from going off the rails, allocate specific time blocks for each agenda item — it makes discussions more focused.
- Facilitator: A designated facilitator helps guide the meeting. The role of this person is to keep the participants on track and make sure all voices are heard, without allowing anyone to dominate the conversation.
- Follow-up process: The meeting shouldn’t end once the discussion is over. There needs to be a follow-up system in place, such as sending out action items, for accountability purposes.
Kimberly Lipari and her team found that a clearly defined structure could keep everyone focused and make meetings more results-driven:
“There is this sense of you're going in knowing what you're looking for. You know the goal of the meeting and you know how to dig up the bits and pieces that are relevant to the purpose.”
Using the Holacracy meeting structure for maximum efficiency
Traditional approaches sometimes fall short in keeping things focused and driving accountability, so agencies turn to more advanced solutions, such as the Holacracy meeting structure.
| What is Holacracy?Holacracy is a management framework that emphasizes roles rather than individuals. In this system, tasks are clearly defined and decisions are made based on responsibilities, not personal opinions. |
The purpose of implementing Holacracy in your meetings is to create an environment where efficiency and clarity thrive. This is done through role-based accountability — each participant knows what they are responsible for.
This eliminates the ambiguity of tasks and prevents meetings from becoming about personalities or emotional concerns. On the contrary, each role is tied to specific accountabilities that the individual must report on during the meeting.
In the words of Kimberly Lipari:
“You don't get to say ‘I don't know how I feel about something’. If I give you accountability, you know it and it's clear — then you have to meet it. If you don’t, then we have to pay attention and talk about it.”
Structuring meetings based on the Holacracy principle
The Holacracy meeting structure follows a specific agenda that successfully covers all essential points. This format includes several key phases:
Check-in
Each participant briefly checks in to share their status or any immediate concerns. This helps everyone get on the same page without lengthy updates.
Metrics
Team members use relevant metrics to provide an overview of the project’s current status. For instance, a project manager may report that 80% of deliverables are on schedule, with a slight delay in one area that needs addressing.
Checklist
This step is a yes/no process that addresses whether previously assigned tasks have been completed. Simply put, it’s a quick way to keep track of progress without derailing the meeting.
Projects
During this phase, each team member reports on the status of ongoing projects and updates the group on any new developments or roadblocks. For example, a developer will update the team that a website redesign is 75% complete but is waiting on the final content from the client.
Tensions
This is a unique feature of Holacracy meetings. A “tension” is an issue that blocks progress or causes friction. Tensions are discussed in a structured way to determine actionable solutions.
“If you have a tension that really affects your work, bring it up. From there, we're able to process things a lot easier without having very large discussions about how you feel about this.”
Kimberly Lipari
Ultimately, the point of Holacracy is to stay focused on roles and accountabilities rather than personalities. It’s a simple way to reduce the personal tensions that can sometimes cloud decision-making.
Reorganize team meetings for greater efficiency
When everyone understands their role and what needs to be done, meetings become a driver for success rather than a barrier. The goal is to create meetings where time is used wisely, accountability is clear, and everyone walks away knowing exactly what steps to take next.
You should create clear communication rules to achieve this goal, but it will pay off almost instantly. As Kimberly Lipari says:
“Setting boundaries is very important — what belongs in the meeting and what can happen outside of it. This is respecting everybody's time. This is moving the ball forward.”