More companies are realizing that too many meetings can disrupt productivity and instead are finding ways to protect employees’ uninterrupted deep work time.GETTY IMAGES
When Grace Williams read about Salesforce’s initiative to hold asynchronous weeks, where all employees are encouraged to cancel all meetings, she asked her leadership team at PANBlast, an Indianapolis-based SaaS public relations agency, if they should try it too.
It was a resounding yes. At that time in 2022, Ms. Williams averaged about 20 meetings a week. During no-meetings week, she had four (there were some she just couldn’t avoid).
“It felt like such a reset. I finally got to tackle those lingering projects at the bottom of my to-do list,” Ms. William says. “It reminded me how much space we can create for focus and creativity when we give ourselves uninterrupted time.”
Indeed, daily standups, weekly one-on-ones, client calls and monthly team meetings are cutting into our uninterrupted time. A 2024 State of Meetings report from Fellow, an artificial intelligence meeting assistant and notetaker, found that employees in Canada spend 20 per cent of their work week in meetings. For managers, it’s 36 per cent. In a 2020 survey, more than three quarters of participants said their meeting schedule is either always or sometimes out of control and the top activities that people would “rather do than attend a bad meeting” included go to the dentist or talk politics at family dinner.
During their no-meetings week, PANBlast employees relied heavily on Slack and email to communicate. For client communication, they replaced status calls with asynchronous updates, often pairing an email with a short video or voice note walking through major updates. “Clients actually loved it. They got all the same information in three minutes instead of a 30-minute meeting,” Ms. Williams says.
At the end of its no-meetings week, PANBlast found that 97 per cent of employees were able to cut their time in meetings down to between zero and five hours, from as high as 15 hours. They shared they had more time to think, were less stressed and were more productive.
The week changed how PANBlast operates. The company now has no-meetings Friday every week. “It’s our deep work day. Time to focus, finish projects or get organized for the week ahead. We are pretty good about sticking to no internal meetings on those days,” Ms. Williams says.
It also holds Foundry Days each quarter, with no external or internal meetings. “We use these days to host brainstorms and plan for the quarter ahead on behalf of our clients. Clearing the calendar helps us stay creative and intentional,” Ms. Williams says.
The company’s staff are also more intentional when choosing how to communicate. Instead of pulling everyone into a 10-minute call, colleagues will record a short update or walkthrough that teammates can watch on their own time. “It’s more efficient and it gives people the flexibility to engage when they’re at their most focused,” Ms. Williams says. “Some of our clients prefer this style, too. It saves time for everyone.”
Ms. Williams says PANBlast hasn’t done another no-meeting full week since the trial as they found the no-meeting Fridays and the Foundry Days each quarter “give our team that right balance of quiet time and active brainstorming/social interaction.”
In 2021, Rethink Communications, a Vancouver-headquartered independent creative agency, stopped holding client meetings on Mondays. Previously, holding client presentations on Mondays often meant creative teams working through the weekend and regular Sunday night check-ins.
“Working in a creative industry is deadline driven. There are a lot of things we can’t control around how we work, like a 14-hour shoot day. But there are things we can control. That’s where no meeting Mondays come in,” says Marie Lunny, managing director at Rethink.
“We want to make sure that people are getting the time they need to reset and come in recharged and ready to tackle the week. By protecting Monday, it protects the weekend and Monday becomes the day that we can dive in and make sure we’re aligned on the work and the presentations for the week ahead.”
Ms. Lunny says cancelling Monday presentations was daunting. “Change is hard. I think you just have to be clear on the why and make sure that your employees and clients know,” she says. “We share it with all of our clients when we’re onboarding them and the reaction has been really positive.”
In 2023, Rethink went even further, declaring the first week of July Independence Week, when the whole agency shuts down for a paid week off.
“When you’re on vacation and the world is going on without you, you come back to 200 emails to catch up on and a bunch of projects. With Independence Week, you know that everybody else is off. So, there is no fear of being behind or catching up.”
Ms. Lunny says the company announced the idea in 2022 to give employees and clients time to prepare. Ms. Williams agrees it’s important to plan for changes such as a no-meeting week or day. “You can’t spring this on people, especially in client service. Give teams time to shift meetings, alert clients and set priorities for the week,” Ms. Williams says.
She also recommends taking steps to ensure connection. “For some people, especially extroverts or new hires, an entirely meeting-free week can feel isolating.” PANBlast employees said the biggest challenges of a no-meeting week included missing interacting socially with co-workers, feeling isolated, missing collaboration with clients and struggling to understand their workload.
Ms. Williams suggests building in social moments, such as a virtual coffee chat or a team Slack thread to keep everyone feeling connected.
This is also a reason that meetings are still valuable, she says. While some people believe most meetings could be replaced with an email, Ms. Williams says that is not necessarily true.
“I’d say many, not most. Some conversations really benefit from a live discussion,” she says. “Tone, body language, energy and human connection all matter. But I do think many recurring meetings could be rethought or shortened. Meet when it adds value, like to brainstorm, set strategy or resolve conflicts and use async tools when it doesn’t.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article misattributed comments about social moments to Marie Lunny. This version has been corrected.