This meeting was avoidable

A version of this article originally appeared in Quartz’s Leadership newsletter. Sign up here to get the latest leadership news and insights straight to your inbox.

We have Slack $WORK, Zoom $ZM, Teams, Google $GOOGL Meet, and AI summaries, all of which helped us work together in a more asynchronous, post-COVID-lockdowns world.

The hope? Maybe even the promise? A reduction in meetings. But everyone’s calendars are as full as ever.

The reality is that meetings are the price we pay for unclear thinking and ambiguous written communication.

Think about all of the times you’re in the middle of something or hard at work on a timely project when out of nowhere someone pings you for a “quick” phone call, or a half-hour meeting to “get aligned”?

Maybe this is why every office in the 1960s Mad Men era seemed to have decanters full of booze — to help everyone cope with another dogshit meeting that will probably delay project completion another day.

Writing — clear, thoughtful writing — has become a leadership power skill. It is simply the cheapest way to align teams, communicate intent, establish constraints, and reduce or eliminate rework.

What do meetings cost?

New research from Otter.ai, which analyzed 20 million meetings across 15,000 companies concluded that the average knowledge worker costs their employer $80,000 per year in meeting-related expenses.

The median knowledge-worker salary in the U.S. is $75,000, so the comptrollers shouldn’t like this.

For everyone who has ever thought: This meeting could have been an email!, the data suggests you’re right.

“Good writing does not mean you come across sounding very smart as a leader. Good writing is when the leader has made the writing disappear so that the directions can become apparent,” said Chris Kirksey, CEO of Direction.com, a healthcare SEO agency. “I personally view it exactly like a functional website where the user knows what they need to press and do without thinking about it twice. 

“This is how we teach our staff. Every written message has to include a clear why, an exact who, and a defined what. If I cannot find all three of these within the first two sentences, I am writing it incorrectly.”

Increased reliance on AI tools can exacerbate communication-related ambiguity. 

“Tools like Claude/ChatGPT/Gemini make it easier to generate more words, but not clearer thinking,” said David Smooke, founder and CEO of HackerNoon, a technology publishing platform. “I'm seeing founders use AI to produce longer memos that still don't answer: Who owns this? What's the deadline? What does success look like? When will this project complete? AI amplifies whatever discipline you bring to it.”

Memos come down the pipeline, and sometimes, perhaps often, there is uncertainty around priorities, timelines, and who is responsible for delivering what. Then there has to be “alignment” meetings, or clarifying discussions where work comes to a halt while all the key players attempt to figure it out.

Thoughtful, intentional written communication can eliminate much of those time- and money-wasting scenarios.

“Adding context alongside tasks prevents uncertainty, said Carolena Enayati, CEO of Response Ready, a provider of emergency medical response products and training. “Explaining why a project matters, who will take responsibility, and the intended outcome ensures that employees understand both the purpose and their role. Providing concrete examples or reference points reduces assumptions and keeps everyone aligned.”

Thoughtfully organizing written updates into structured sections for context, tasks, and deadlines makes information easier to scan and absorb, Enayati said.

“Highlighting key responsibilities visually, whether through lists or formatting, reduces misinterpretation,” she said. “When employees can follow instructions without repeatedly seeking clarification, meetings naturally decrease.”

Leaders can anticipate common questions and address them proactively in written communications, Enayati said.

Practical techniques include:

• Defining decision-makers
• Outlining steps clearly
• Specifying deadlines

“When leadership prioritizes clarity in writing, productivity increases and unnecessary meetings diminish,” Enayati said. “Employees spend less time confirming instructions, duplicated work declines, and project timelines stay on track. Clear communication also fosters a culture of accountability, independent decision-making, and efficient use of time, demonstrating that effective writing is one of the most powerful tools for improving organizational performance.”

The ROI is measurable, Smooke said.

“A 45-minute writing investment that prevents three one-hour meetings with six people saves 17.25 person-hours,” he said. “Do that weekly and you've saved 900 person-hours annually.”

Most leaders avoid this because clear writing requires hard decisions and vague writing preserves deniability, he said.

“Good leadership writing eliminates ambiguity and provides guidance,” said Sam Meenasian, vice president of sales and marketing at USA Business Insurance. “Instead of writing, ‘Let’s revisit the marketing strategy,’ a leader could say, ‘Joe, please draft a revised Q2 marketing strategy by Tuesday, focusing on lead generation. Include three budget scenarios and circulate them for feedback by Thursday.’ This kind of detail not only aligns expectations but also avoids unnecessary follow-up and keeps everyone on the same page with the goal and timetable.”

“I learned this the hard way: Most meetings exist because people don't know what happens next,” said Todd Cechini, CEO of Dun-Rite Kitchens, a remodeling company.

“We cut our project status meetings by 70% when I started requiring every job to have a written sequence sheet that lives in the client's home,” Cechini said. “Here's what actually worked: Before we start any kitchen or bathroom remodel, our project manager creates a one-page timeline that shows exactly which trades come when — demo on Monday, plumber Tuesday morning, electrician Tuesday afternoon, drywall Wednesday. We tape it to the client's refrigerator and give copies to every crew member. Now when the tile guy shows up and the homeowner asks ‘when does the vanity arrive?’ they just point to Friday on the sheet instead of calling me for a meeting.”

Kirksey employs a similar policy in very different applications.

“I experienced the greatest gain in my productivity after avoiding frequent catch-up phone calls without documents to review before the call,” Kirksey said. “Now if anyone wishes to have a 15-minute phone call with me, they must submit a brief for review prior to the call. This brief must contain the decision required of me, the background on the activity, and a personal recommendation to approve the decision. This very simple process has eliminated approximately 40% of our status update meetings, and we have cut our internal status update meetings to half while simultaneously improving the clarity of projects.”