Data‑employees spend roughly one working day each week, or 23% of their time, in a gathering. The burden of the workday typically prevents workers from having uninterrupted time to pay attention, inflicting them to increase their hours properly past the standard 9-to-5.
It’s tempting for corporations to embrace the attraction of “no conferences,” hoping the additional time will result in extra targeted work. However does eliminating conferences truly work?
Grace Williams, VP of Consumer Relations of the PR company PANBlast, satisfied her management staff to cancel all meetings for a week. With over 20 conferences filling greater than half her schedule, Grace noticed a “no conferences week” as an opportunity to get significant work executed whereas relieving some Zoom fatigue.
The end result? Whereas some workers missed social interactions and struggled with understanding workload, 92% of workers mentioned they’d prefer to repeat the experiment once more later that 12 months.
So, what’s the proper transfer for corporations?” Ought to they dedicate a day every week to deep work, or check a full week with out conferences? And in an period of improved collaboration instruments and smarter calendar administration, is the actual alternative in small refinements moderately than sweeping adjustments?
Right here, representatives from corporations of all sizes share how they’re rethinking assembly tradition.
Think about someday of deep work
I introduced a “No-Assembly Fridays” coverage with me once I joined Tormach two years in the past—the remainder of the corporate adopted it quickly after. The end result? Larger productivity, no communication gaps, and a noticeable shift in morale. Individuals use Fridays to make amends for emails, end admin duties, and tie up unfastened ends, which clears the psychological litter earlier than the weekend. It additionally creates a pure incentive to complete collaborative work by Thursday, so deadlines are typically hit earlier.
The concept got here from my expertise at bigger corporations, the place Friday conferences have been typically canceled last-minute by management, throwing off your day and your mindset. It felt inefficient and irritating, so I made a decision to flip that script and simply eradicate the expectation of conferences altogether.
We keep related by means of Microsoft Groups, and Friday has organically develop into a day when individuals share weekly wins in our channels—maintaining communication flowing whereas nonetheless honoring deep work time.
Heather Curtis, Director of Gross sales and Marketing, Tormach
Give workers instruments to step out of conferences
No assembly insurance policies and no assembly weeks needs to be a factor of the previous due to AI.
As an alternative of an all-or-nothing strategy that limits how individuals wish to work, as a substitute give them the instruments to step out of conferences that they’ll miss, whereas nonetheless guaranteeing they get the knowledge they want. It’s all infinitely extra potential in the present day.
When groups implement an AI assembly copilot, people naturally attend 20% fewer conferences almost instantly, whereas nonetheless gaining access to the content material by way of shared assembly reviews and related enterprise search. Nobody even has to evaluate assembly minutes any longer; you merely immediate your information base for the knowledge you want, and transfer by means of your day sooner.
David Shim, Cofounder and CEO, Read AI
Anchor the week with written, public commitments
Development requires velocity, and conferences have been slowing us down. So, we carried out an entire no-meeting coverage for 5 consecutive enterprise days. No common standups, check-ins, and even “fast” calls. We structured it like a dash, with every participant committing to 1 key undertaking for the week and sharing it in a Slack thread Monday morning.
Output throughout that week doubled in comparison with a typical week, as measured by the variety of campaigns launched and options delivered. It felt electrical. Nonetheless, by Friday, we realized that relationships had suffered barely; casual collaboration and artistic riffing have been virtually nonexistent with out real-time chats.
To make sure long-term success, anchor the week with written, public commitments. At beehiiv, we require a Monday kickoff put up and a Friday recap. With out that, an absence of conferences merely makes individuals invisible, and invisibility kills momentum sooner than conferences ever might.
Edward White, Head of Development, beehiiv
Get buy-in from the highest down
Shift has carried out Deep Work Wednesdays for over a 12 months for your complete firm. The important thing to a profitable no-meeting coverage is to first obtain true buy-in from the highest down. It’s typically on the management degree the place schedules get busy and assembly invitations get scheduled simply to search out the time when nobody has conferences booked.
Particular person staff members additionally look to the corporate’s management to evaluate how dedicated they need to be to new firm insurance policies or adjustments of their workflow. The long-term success of an organization’s no-meeting coverage is reliant on these on the prime setting the proper tone and main by instance.
Sabrina Banadyga, VP of Advertising and marketing, Shift
Be intentional about conferences
Considerate assembly habits aren’t about slicing issues out completely, however it’s about being intentional. I’m ruthless about solely attending conferences with a transparent agenda and goal. If one thing will be shared as ongoing communication, as a substitute of a separate assembly, it needs to be. If I can empower somebody to maneuver ahead with out me, even higher.
My recommendation? Lead by instance. Defend your calendar, prioritize deep work, and normalize the concept not being in each assembly can truly be an indication of a powerful, empowered and trusted staff, not a disengaged one.
Jean-Christophe Taunay-Bucalo (JC), President and COO at TravelPerk
