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Start your meetings at 5 minutes past

philipotoole.com

21–30 of 235 posts

Re: Start your meetings at 5 minutes past

#21
post #6

We do this at my work and guess what - meetings tend to run 5 minutes late because everyone knows the next meeting doesn’t start until 5 past.

This is standard at the large tech company where I work and is extremely effective and universally respected.

Re: Start your meetings at 5 minutes past

#22
post #16

I've always wondered at the company cultures between Google and Microsoft - Gcal supports ending meetings five minutes early while Outlook supports starting five minutes late. At Microsoft it was obvious how five minutes late was optimal - meetings usually dragged on past their end time anyhow, but never started early so it gave folks time to eg get to their next meeting (in person), coffee, bio break, etc. Does Goog…

> while Outlook supports starting five minutes late

This contrast is an incorrect assumption. Outlook does allow starting meetings late as well as ending meetings early, with somewhat arbitrary durations. [1] I have definitely seen these options in Outlook settings (on web, since I hate Outlook).

However, I haven’t used it because the teams one works with need to be alerted and reminded of it before it sticks in their minds (if nobody else is using such settings).

[1]: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/end-meetings-earl...

Re: Start your meetings at 5 minutes past

#23
post #16

I've always wondered at the company cultures between Google and Microsoft - Gcal supports ending meetings five minutes early while Outlook supports starting five minutes late. At Microsoft it was obvious how five minutes late was optimal - meetings usually dragged on past their end time anyhow, but never started early so it gave folks time to eg get to their next meeting (in person), coffee, bio break, etc. Does Goog…

The solution I like best is to "pin" issues that would cause the meeting to run long, with select personnel needing to stay late to address the pinned issue but everybody else leaving on time.

Re: Start your meetings at 5 minutes past

#24
post #18

There's no substitute for leadership establishing a culture of meeting discipline. By and large, every org will follow the example leadership sets. If leadership blesses this cutesy little five-minutes-late maneuver, implicitly accepting that meetings don't end on time, then meetings won't end on time at 5 after the hour either.

Some meetings are more important than others. So losing 5 minutes of a useless meeting is better than not going over 5 minutes for the important meeting.

Everyone wants to think their time is valuable, but this is relative.

Re: Start your meetings at 5 minutes past

#25
post #22
post #16

I've always wondered at the company cultures between Google and Microsoft - Gcal supports ending meetings five minutes early while Outlook supports starting five minutes late. At Microsoft it was obvious how five minutes late was optimal - meetings usually dragged on past their end time anyhow, but never started early so it gave folks time to eg get to their next meeting (in person), coffee, bio break, etc. Does Goog…

> while Outlook supports starting five minutes late This contrast is an incorrect assumption. Outlook does allow starting meetings late as well as ending meetings early, with somewhat arbitrary durations. [1] I have definitely seen these options in Outlook settings (on web, since I hate Outlook). However, I haven’t used it because the teams one works with need to be alerted and reminded of it before it sticks in thei…

Our corporate IT managed to enable that setting for everyone, which made the transition easier. Doesn't stop people from overriding it, alas.

Re: Start your meetings at 5 minutes past

#26
I've found myself watching and waiting for at least 3 people to join a meeting before I connect to avoid the inevitable minutes of greetings and unrelated discussion that always happens. Our meetings always start 5-10 minutes _past_ the scheduled time.

Re: Start your meetings at 5 minutes past

#27
In my experience, if the meeting is important enough policies like this don't matter.

People magically show up on time and pay attention and the meeting ends on time or early.

I have to assume this discussion is about the 90% of meetings that could have been a group chat or email chain.

Re: Start your meetings at 5 minutes past

#28
This is the kind of stuff that makes me feel like I’m surrounded by idiots.

Waiting for attendance is simply scheduled into the agenda. The first 5 minutes of the agenda is reserved for quorum. There is absolutely no need for making it any more complicated, or playing games with the scheduled time like the post suggests. Childish nonsense.

Re: Start your meetings at 5 minutes past

#29

I've found myself watching and waiting for at least 3 people to join a meeting before I connect to avoid the inevitable minutes of greetings and unrelated discussion that always happens. Our meetings always start 5-10 minutes _past_ the scheduled time.

I know we don’t get to choose our coworkers and teams necessarily and experiences vary, but I am sorry you dread/dislike a little chit chat with your teammates:(

Re: Start your meetings at 5 minutes past

#30

I've found myself watching and waiting for at least 3 people to join a meeting before I connect to avoid the inevitable minutes of greetings and unrelated discussion that always happens. Our meetings always start 5-10 minutes _past_ the scheduled time.

In my experience the unrelated discussion is usually the only fun and tangible value I get out of most meetings
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