Calendly

How do YOU really feel about meetings? In our annual State of Meetings Report—out today—we asked 1.2k business professionals this very question and more to understand what they love about meetings, dislike, and how they believe meetings can be improved. What we found might surprise you. 👀 81% of respondents said more meetings would actually help them in some way. You read that right. But, here’s the catch: That’s only if they’re productive meetings. Here's what else we found: - The time we spend just scheduling meetings has increased this year compared to 2023—no wonder we found there’s a growing appetite for AI in smart scheduling assistance. 🤖 - Most of us are multitasking during virtual meetings—a sign that we need to make that time more engaging and purposeful. ⚡ - Different age groups experience meetings differently—from establishing boundaries (which we found Gen Z does a great job of!) to keeping agendas on track. 📅 The bottom line—meetings themselves are not the problem. It’s all about how we approach them. This is just the tip of the data iceberg. Want to dive into ALL the findings and create #BetterMeetings ahead of 2025? Check out the report in the comments. ⤵

What separates a productive meeting from one that feels like a waste of time? Comment your answer. To get to the bottom of this, we surveyed 1.2k workers in our annual State of Meetings Report, and a pattern emerged from the data. The most productive meetings happen when 1) they are scheduled with a clear purpose and 2) thoughtfully planned. “To have a positive impact on productivity, we need to be intentional about how we structure meetings. Leaders should take steps before, during, and after every meeting to make sure it’s a good use of everyone’s time,” says lead meetings expert Steven Rogelberg, author of “Glad We Met: The Art & Science of 1:1 Meetings.” It’s not about clearing your calendar—but rather making meetings worth attending. How do you do that? Set your purpose. Workers say the most productive meetings are used for: ✅ Planning, goal- or direction-setting ✅ Problem-solving or troubleshooting an issue ✅ Decision-making Prep for every stage of your meeting. Workers say poorly-run meetings had these three elements in common: ❌ No agendas or pre-reads are distributed ahead of time ❌ Critical attendees are missing, stalling key decisions ❌ No follow-up notes, summaries, or action items are shared Before you schedule your next meeting, use our data as a checklist. For more of that data to build out your meeting checklists, see the full State of Meetings Report in the comments. ⤵ #BetterMeetings

This week, so much of what I thought was true about meetings was proven wrong. After 8 years in the meeting tech space, I considered myself somewhat of a meeting expert. I've spent countless hours writing, speaking, and researching meeting best practices. I even co-wrote a book on the topic! But, some research released today threw much of what I knew pre-2024 on its head... For example: - While we're working hard to cut down internal meetings and leverage async collaboration tools, 81% say more meetings would help them in some way! 🤯 - 80% of people spend 6 hours or less in meetings per week. What am I doing wrong? 🙈 - 52% owned up to multi-tasking during meetings. 60% of Gen-Z are always or very-often multi-tasking. The downside of remote? 📱 Have a read of Calendly's State of Meetings Report released today. There's so much of this gold - link in comments.

This advice is golden—take notes! ✍ Thanks, Leslie Venetz!

In the 20+ years of my career, I have attended A LOT of meetings. Some were dreaded, some were good. But the most productive ones were purposely engaging or had an agenda or goal that we actually accomplished during the meeting. Those kinds of productive meetings have led to me creating many relationships all over the world that have lasted me to this day—some with people that I have never even met in person. Why? Because during our time together, we were able to:  1️⃣ Create meaningful connections 2️⃣ Build a foundation of mutual trust and support 3️⃣ Solve pretty hard challenges All while establishing strong awareness in companies, where in some situations, there was barely a product in the market. The same is true now, and may even be more critical to relationship building in today's hybrid world of virtual and in-person meetings — we all want to leave a meeting feeling accomplished and more connected, right? For me and my team, prepping for a productive meeting starts BEFORE it even begins, like always including an agenda and establishing a goal. This type of meeting IS worth our time and they allow my team and I to solve problems and create opportunities and relationships that would otherwise not exist. Ever use a Miro board during a team meeting? Ever break into smaller groups during larger meetings and have real conversations? Game changing.    Meetings can be so much more than just another item on your to-do list. When done right, they create space for collaboration, creativity, and purposeful connections that drive real results. And now there's data to back that up: 81% of workers say more meetings would help them in some way, according to Calendly's State of Meetings Report. Yes, I said it: workers want more meetings – as long as they’re good meetings. Whether it's internal brainstorming sessions or external client calls, meetings shape how we work across roles, industries, and generations. I’ll link the Report in my comments if you’re curious to learn more. I'm always looking for new ways to keep everyone engaged and present during meetings. Have you tried anything new recently? #BetterMeetings

Whether you love or dread them, meetings are essential to business. Yet, unproductive meetings still happen, and I think it’s safe to say we’ve all left a meeting or two in the past feeling more frustrated than motivated. How can we break the cycle of bad meetings so we can accomplish more in our work days? It’s great to see that Calendly wanted to get to the bottom of this question too. I enjoyed their annual State of Meetings Report, which surveyed more than a thousand workers on their perception of internal and external meetings. The most interesting result from the report might surprise you: A majority (81%) of the workers surveyed feel that more meetings, if productive, would help them in some way. Yes, that’s right, more productive meetings! To me, this signals meetings themselves are not the problem — unproductive meetings are. A well-run meeting start to finish requires thoughtful structure, not just purpose, to make an impact. If you want to create a more productive meeting culture for your organization, I recommend checking out Calendly’s full report below.  https://bit.ly/4ezIpZT #BetterMeetings #CalendlyCollab

New CTA for you to try based on brain science. This CTA leverages the But You Are Free" (BYAF) technique. 👇 "I believe we should meet next week to discuss [relevant topic]. You're free to refuse, but if it sounds valuable, book a time here [Calendly URL]." 👉 Why it works: - Increases Win Rates: According to the research, BYAF nearly doubles the chances of getting a "yes" by reducing pressure and making the person feel in control of their decision. - Lowers Zone of Resistance: When people are reminded they’re free to say no, they’re less likely to resist and more open to agreeing because they don’t feel coerced. 👉 Why you should care: - Proven by Research: This technique, formalized in a 2000 study, has been tested across 42 experiments with over 22,000 participants, showing its real-world effectiveness. The results consistently demonstrated that emphasizing freedom of choice significantly boosts compliance across various situations.

Just in time for the start of Q4—sales folks, take notes! ✍️ We recently caught up with our friend Donald C Kelly IRL at HubSpot #INBOUND! Between running his own business and producing his successful podcast, The Sales Evangelist, Donald is a master of finding time to do it all. He also happens to be an incredible customer who uses our HubSpot CRM integration and automated reminders through Workflows! We love these 3 ways he mentioned managing his time and prospects: ✅ Automation, automation, automation ✅ Ensuring your tech stack “talks” to each other ✅ Connecting scheduling tools to your CRM Give Workflows a try in Calendly. And if you're curious about our CRM integrations, check out the link in the comments.

Eager to make the most of your time, wherever the week takes you? We shipped updates to the Calendly mobile app to bring you the latest features you love! A few of my personal favorites – meetings agenda view, scheduling in real time, meeting history per contact, and a visual/ux polish across the experience. Update your Calendly mobile app today! Learn more about the release: https://lnkd.in/dS6XQhKh ✨ design leadership Alise Crain• design Tom Bergman • #DesignAtCalendly #ProductDesign #Calendly #MobileDesign

From Calendly how-tos, to expert productivity tips (like this popular "chase the squirrel" lesson from Luis Velasquez MBA, PhD.) we loved learning from our speakers at the #BetterMeetings virtual event! 💙 🐿️ But we also learned a lot from *you* in the chat! We loved seeing your tips shared from all over the world. Here are a few of our favorites: ➡️ Keep things on-topic: “Have a main person (manager, owner) keep people on task and be a timekeeper.” ➡️ Always have an agenda: "This is my default for any meeting invite I send: 1) Main goal/objective, 2) Open Q&A, 3) Next steps/owners.” ➡️ Protect time between meetings: “Buffers are my jam and jelly.” ➡️ Create time for your team to catch up: “Our organization enacted a guideline to not have meetings on Fridays to allow staff to get caught up on workloads through the week…Recently just joined the enterprise level of Calendly. So far, so good!” Did you miss our #BetterMeetings event? Watch it now at the link in the comments! ⤵