How to prepare a meeting so it does not last three hours

Almost nobody leaves a three-hour meeting happy. And almost always, those three hours do not come from the topics: they come from how it was prepared.

1. The agenda is the script, not the index

An agenda that says "Any other business" is inviting the meeting to last as long as it likes. Be specific about each item: what gets decided, not what gets discussed. "Approval of the 2027 budget" is an item; "Talk about the cleaning issue" is not.

And remember that nothing significant can be approved outside the agenda. If an important matter is not on it, it does not get voted on — so it is better to include it.

2. The paperwork goes out beforehand

Budgets, works quotes, accounts. If people see them for the first time in the room, the meeting turns into a collective reading session. Sending them with the notice turns an hour of explanation into ten minutes of questions.

3. Quotes, compared

If you have to choose between three offers, bring them in a table with what is being compared: price, timeframe, guarantee, what is included. Without that, the meeting argues about impressions.

4. Somebody takes minutes from minute one

Not the next day from memory. Resolutions get written as they are taken, with the exact wording of what was approved and the result of the vote.

5. Order by importance, not by habit

What decides money first, while people are fresh and nobody has left. Announcements and minor complaints at the end.

6. Set a finish time

Say it at the start: "we finish at nine". It works surprisingly well. And whatever does not fit gets called separately rather than being badly resolved at eleven at night.

One last note on proxies

Collect the voting proxies before starting, in writing, checking who is delegating to whom. Sorting that out halfway through a vote is the fastest way to have a resolution challenged.