Stop Meeting for Meeting's Sake

[Evan Fishman - Quely for Jira]

What if the real productivity killer isn’t bad code or poor planning, but a calendar full of meetings with no real purpose?

In too many product teams, Agile rituals become rituals for ritual’s sake.

Standups that don’t stand for anything.
Planning sessions that go nowhere.
Syncs that don’t actually sync.

And it’s not just time we’re losing. Constant meetings kill flow, drain energy, and slowly erode morale.

PS: This isn't me coming for Agile

So here’s something I try to keep in mind before hitting “send” on that invite:
👉 Are we trying to decide something?
👉 Do we need to learn or unblock something together?
👉 Is this about bonding as a team?
👉 Or are we meeting just to meet?

If it’s none of those… maybe it doesn’t need to be a meeting at all.

Async works wonders when done right. And when you do meet, it should feel useful, not like another box to tick.

The fastest teams aren’t the ones with the most meetings. They’re the ones who decide well, once.

[Thorsten Letschert _Decadis AG_]

In this context, I really must give Loom a shout-out. The asynchronous component is worth its weight in gold.