For years, business meetings have been on the blacklist of employees and managers alike. It’s no surprise. Studies show that the average leader spends 15-20% of their work time in meetings, with a significant portion of that time being wasted. We complain about their length, lack of focus, and how often we leave the conference room with only a vague memory of what was actually decided. This leads to a scramble: who was supposed to do what, by when, and did we certainly note everything?

The issue doesn’t lie with the concept of meetings themselves. Meetings are essential for coordinating actions, brainstorming, and building relationships. The problem is in how we conduct them. The traditional model, where decisions are noted chaotically and someone has to later transcribe notes, assign tasks, and distribute everything to participants, is a recipe for inefficiency. This is especially aggravating for senior leaders who need swift actions and clear results.

Why Traditional Meetings Don’t Work

A classical meeting often ends with a series of promises and vague commitments. Someone says: “I’ll handle it” or “I’ll check it out,” but then no one remembers who exactly and what exactly was supposed to be done. The lack of clearly defined tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities causes decisions to dissipate, and projects to drag on. Additionally, time is spent drafting meeting notes, distributing them, and clarifying any uncertainties—hours of valuable time.

For many organizations, meetings have turned into a ritual devoid of practical meaning. We participate because “that’s the way it is,” but rarely do we derive concrete value from them. Add to this the lack of participant preparation, vague objectives, and a tendency to prolong discussions, and you have the perfect recipe for wasting company resources.

Change of Approach: Concluding the Meeting During the Meeting

The solution isn’t to ditch meetings but to radically change our approach to them. The idea of “concluding the meeting during the meeting” is based on a simple principle: by the end of the meeting, everything should be set. No notes to transcribe, tasks to assign, or emails to send afterward. Everything happens in real-time, while everyone is still gathered and can immediately clarify any doubts.

How do you achieve this? By combining process discipline with intelligent AI tools that automate tedious documentation tasks. Modern technology allows us to focus on what truly matters: discussion, decisions, and action, rather than the administrative side of meetings.

Technology as a Key Ally

AI tools have revolutionized how we can conduct meetings. Applications like Fireflies.ai and Otter.ai can transcribe entire meetings in real-time, extract key points, and create summaries. ClickUp enables the automatic creation of tasks and their assignment to specific people with deadlines. X.AI helps optimize schedules and planning, while Microsoft Copilot assists in drafting documents and assigning responsibilities.

What’s best is that most of these tools operate in the cloud and don’t require complex integration with an organization’s infrastructure. You can use them whether you’re working in a corporation or running your own business. They integrate with popular platforms like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, making implementation relatively straightforward.

How to Implement the Method of Concluding the Meeting During the Meeting?

Start with preparation. Before each meeting, set a clear agenda with specific objectives. Determine what decisions need to be made and what actions will result from these decisions. Inform participants of this approach, so they are ready for immediate task and deadline assignment.

During the meeting, use a chosen AI tool for transcription and note-taking. Let the app work in the background, capturing key points. Simultaneously create tasks in the project management system. When someone declares, “I’ll handle preparing the presentation,” immediately turn it into a concrete task with a deadline and assign it to the responsible person.

At the end of the meeting, before everyone leaves, take 5-10 minutes to collectively review the created tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities. Ensure that everything is clear and accepted. This way, each participant leaves the meeting fully aware of what they need to do and by when.

Benefits Beyond Time Savings

Implementing this method provides benefits that go far beyond time savings. It dramatically increases transparency and accountability within the team. Everyone knows who is responsible for what and by when tasks must be completed. There is no room for excuses like “I didn’t know” or “I forgot.”

Additionally, automated meeting documentation creates a valuable knowledge base for the organization. It is easy to revert to previous decisions, track the decision-making process, or recall arguments behind specific decisions. This is invaluable when onboarding new team members or making future decisions.

Another advantage is increased employee satisfaction. Nobody likes participating in unproductive meetings that yield no results. When meetings become effective, specific, and action-oriented, team engagement and motivation increase.

Challenges and Pitfalls

Of course, like any method, this one has its challenges. One is resistance to change. People accustomed to the traditional meeting model may initially feel discomfort with increased transparency and immediate task assignment. It’s beneficial to introduce changes gradually and explain the benefits of the new approach.

Another challenge might be excessive reliance on technology. AI tools are fantastic, but they don’t replace human judgment and communication. Transcriptions might miss the subtleties of a discussion, and automatically generated summaries might overlook context. Therefore, it’s always worthwhile to spend some time on human verification at the end of the meeting.

Also remember, that technology alone won’t solve the problem of unnecessary meetings. Before organizing another meeting, ask yourself: is it truly necessary? Perhaps an email, a brief conversation, or collaboration platform communication will suffice? The most effective meeting is one that was avoided.

From Theory to Practice

Concluding meetings during them is not just a theory—it’s a practical approach you can implement in your organization right now. Start with small steps. Choose one AI tool, such as Otter.ai for transcription, and use it in your next meeting. You’ll see how much time you save without having to note everything manually.

Then, add automatic task creation. After a few meetings conducted in this new way, gather feedback from participants. What works well? What needs improvement? Adapt the process to your team’s and organization’s specifics.

Remember, the key element is consistency. Meetings must have a clear structure, starting from the agenda, through moderating the discussion, to the final summary and task assignment. Only then will the method yield the desired results.

Can your meetings be more effective? Certainly. Consider how much time you and your team spend on meetings that don’t deliver tangible results. Then imagine your work if every meeting ended with a clear action plan, without the need for additional work afterward. The difference can be enormous, both in productivity and job satisfaction.