We Don’t Need More Meetings. We Need More Meaningful Moments.
The screen freezes. The sound lags. Someone’s mid-sentence on a Teams call, and suddenly turns into a blurry, robotic version of themselves. It’s awkward. It’s frustrating. And it’s happening every day across modern workplaces.
What’s worse? It’s becoming the norm. Meetings fill calendars from morning to late afternoon, yet progress often feels slow and disjointed. People show up, digitally or in person, but the energy is missing.
The question is no longer “Are we collaborating enough?” It’s “Are we collaborating effectively?”
On average, employees spend a significant portion of their week in meetings. According to a 2025 report from Raconteur, one in ten workers spends more than 15 hours a week in meetings.
Many of those meetings could be emails. Some could be skipped altogether. And yet, they continue to multiply. It starts with one weekly sync. Then a project check-in. Then a follow-up that somehow turns into another half hour. Before long, teams are stuck in a cycle of over-scheduling and under-delivering.
For leaders, this is more than a time management issue. It’s a cultural challenge. When every interaction is scheduled, organic conversation disappears. Trust, creativity, and shared energy are harder to maintain.
Think about the last time your team had a breakthrough. Was it in a tightly timed call with 12 people? Or was it during a quick chat in the hallway, over a coffee walk, during a lunch break, or even while randomly scrolling LinkedIn?
Great ideas don’t always show up on schedule. The best collaboration often happens when no one’s trying too hard. A quick chat. A shared whiteboard. A five-minute brainstorm that moves things forward faster than a full agenda ever could.
These moments used to happen naturally in the office. In hybrid environments, they need a little help.
You can’t force creativity, but you can make space for it. It starts with giving teams the clarity and access they need to connect without barriers:
✅ Know who’s in the office today
✅ See which ad-hoc meeting rooms or desks are available
✅ Find colleagues quickly and easily
When people have this information at their fingertips, collaboration becomes smoother. A short conversation replaces a long meeting. An idea is shared in real-time instead of waiting until next week’s time slot.
Flexibility doesn’t mean letting go of structure. It means giving people the tools to work smart, not just scheduled.
If you’re asking people to come into the office, it needs to be worth their while. For most, that value doesn’t come from sitting through another video call. It comes from the chance to connect with colleagues, share ideas, and make progress together.
The office should feel like a hub for creativity and collaboration. A space where energy builds, not drains. That requires both physical space and digital support.
It’s about designing an environment where people can meet naturally, talk freely, and get more done—without booking everything in advance.
More meetings don’t always lead to better results. What really drives progress is the ability to act quickly, collaborate meaningfully, and make space for the conversations that matter.
Leaders have the chance to reduce the noise and bring focus back to real work. That means giving teams the freedom to connect when it counts, without endless calls and over-planning.
Spontaneity may sound soft, but in practice, it’s powerful. It helps teams move faster, think clearer, and stay engaged.