WEBVTT - The New Corner Office: Change your meeting default

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the

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<v Speaker 1>new world of work, where location and hours are more

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<v Speaker 1>flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to change

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<v Speaker 1>your meeting default time. A surprising number of people automatically

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<v Speaker 1>schedule meetings for sixty minutes. By changing this at least

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<v Speaker 1>two thirty minutes, you force people to justify any lengthier requests. Ultimately,

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<v Speaker 1>this can save a ton of time. In a perfect world,

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<v Speaker 1>I think all meetings would be scheduled for the exact

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<v Speaker 1>amount of time dictated by the agenda. If you've got

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<v Speaker 1>twenty three minutes of stuff to cover, then the meeting

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<v Speaker 1>will be twenty three minutes long. Unfortunately, electronic calendars make

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<v Speaker 1>this pretty difficult, and there are enough advantages of electronic

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<v Speaker 1>calendars that people tend to go along with their settings,

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<v Speaker 1>which means that meetings happen in intervals of fifteen minutes

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<v Speaker 1>and almost universally in thirty or sixty minute chunks. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>it might seem that setting the default to sixty minutes

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<v Speaker 1>is wise, after all of stuff takes less time. Great,

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<v Speaker 1>you now have open space in your schedule. Setting a

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<v Speaker 1>sixty minute default will naturally limit how many meetings can

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<v Speaker 1>get scheduled per day and probably keep you from running

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<v Speaker 1>behind in a way that a schedule packed with thirty

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<v Speaker 1>minute meetings just won't. But here's the problem. People have

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<v Speaker 1>a funny tendency to take the scheduled time as what

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<v Speaker 1>they should aim for. I have been in a great

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<v Speaker 1>many meetings in life that could have taken five minutes.

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<v Speaker 1>But since someone booked the conference room for an hour, well,

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<v Speaker 1>does anybody have anything else to discuss? How about we

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<v Speaker 1>go off on a tangent on office fridge policies. The

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<v Speaker 1>meeting could end, but it seems weird to end someone's

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<v Speaker 1>sixty minute meeting at five minutes in, and so people

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<v Speaker 1>don't or they don't focus because hey, they've got sixty minutes.

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<v Speaker 1>If you set the default to thirty minutes, though, or

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<v Speaker 1>if you're brave fifteen, you change the dynamic. People can

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<v Speaker 1>certainly ask for more. And if you set the default

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<v Speaker 1>at fifteen minutes, trust me, most people will ask for more,

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<v Speaker 1>but they'll have to say why. They'll have to argue

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<v Speaker 1>that there is enough material to justify changing your default,

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<v Speaker 1>and that makes it mildly more likely that people will

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<v Speaker 1>think through the agenda or they will do their best

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<v Speaker 1>to cover the material in thirty minutes instead of sixty minutes.

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<v Speaker 1>And if it can be covered in thirty minutes, well awesome,

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<v Speaker 1>you've just made the meeting fifty more efficient, right there.

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<v Speaker 1>I have argued in past episodes of my various podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>that people should set the default at twenty minutes or

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<v Speaker 1>forty minutes, both of which have some real benefits over

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<v Speaker 1>thirty years. Sixty minutes most obviously, they're shorter, they're reachable

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<v Speaker 1>from the norm, but force a bit of a trim.

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<v Speaker 1>But since I know most organizations with electronic calendars won't

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<v Speaker 1>do this, consider this episode to be your nudge to

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<v Speaker 1>default to thirty minutes instead of sixty minutes. You'll still

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<v Speaker 1>have plenty of hour long meetings, trust me, you will,

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<v Speaker 1>but probably a few less of them, and that's generally

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<v Speaker 1>a good thing. In the meantime, This is Laura, Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, and here's to succeeding in the New Corner Office.

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<v Speaker 1>The New Corner Office is a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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