This meeting was avoidable
Meetings are the price we pay for unclear thinking and ambiguous communication. Writing — clear, thoughtful writing — has become a leadership power skill
Meetings as a symptom: They're often the costly fix for ambiguous writing. A "quick call" interrupts deep work, and vague memos lead to clarification meetings that halt progress.
- The high cost: Otter.ai's research (from a 2022 study analyzing meetings) found that companies spend about **$80,000 per knowledge worker annually** on meeting-related time (based on salary and hours spent). With the U.S. median knowledge-worker salary around $75,000, this means a significant portion of payroll goes to meetings—often unnecessary ones. (Note: The quoted "20 million meetings across 15,000 companies" appears to reference or align with Otter's broader data sets and partnerships, though the specific $80K figure ties to their unnecessary-meetings report, where ~1/3 of meetings were deemed avoidable, wasting ~$25K per employee.)
- **Writing as a leadership superpower**: Clear, structured writing aligns teams cheaply and reduces rework. It makes intent, constraints, ownership, and next steps obvious without discussion.
Experts quoted emphasize practical habits:
- **Chris Kirksey** (CEO of Direction.com, a healthcare SEO agency) compares good writing to intuitive UX: Directions should be so clear they "disappear," letting the reader focus on action. Rule: Every message needs a clear **why**, **who**, and **what** in the first two sentences.
- **David Smooke** (founder/CEO of HackerNoon) warns that AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini) amplify existing habits—generating longer text without sharper thinking. Vague AI-assisted memos still leave questions like "Who owns this? What's the deadline? What does success look like?" leading to more meetings.
- **Carolena Enayati** (CEO of Response Ready) stresses adding proactive context to tasks: Explain **why** a project matters, assign responsibility, define outcomes, use examples, and structure updates (context → tasks → deadlines) for easy scanning. Anticipate questions upfront to cut down on clarifications.
- **Sam Meenasian** (VP at USA Business Insurance) gives concrete examples: Replace "Let’s revisit the marketing strategy" with specifics like "Joe, draft a revised Q2 marketing strategy by Tuesday, focusing on lead generation. Include three budget scenarios and circulate for feedback by Thursday."
- **Todd Cechini** (CEO of Dun-Rite Kitchens) reduced project status meetings by 70% with simple one-page written timelines taped to clients' fridges—eliminating calls by making sequences visible.
- **Kirksey's personal policy**: Require a brief (decision needed, background, recommendation) before any short call—cutting ~40% of status updates and halving internal meetings.
**The ROI math** (from Smooke): A 45-minute writing session preventing three 1-hour meetings with six people saves ~17.25 person-hours. Weekly? That's ~900 hours saved annually per such cycle—massive for teams.
**Why leaders resist clear writing**: It demands hard decisions and eliminates deniability. Vague language preserves flexibility (or excuses), but at the expense of efficiency.
Bottom line: In a world of AI-amplified noise, disciplined written communication is the antidote to meeting overload. Prioritize clarity, specificity, and structure in memos, updates, and briefs—teams become more autonomous, productive, and accountable. Fewer meetings follow naturally, freeing time for actual work.
If every leader adopted "why-who-what" upfront and proactive context, the post-COVID promise of reduced meetings might finally deliver. The data (and real-world examples) show it's not just possible—it's profitable.