To Meet Or Not to Meet. Meetings serve teams in ways that nothing else can. But are face-to-face meetings always necessary?

Here’s a handy little test to see if a face-to-face meeting is necessary. If you answer “Yes” to all three of the following questions, schedule a meeting (if not, no meeting).

1. Is the subject too broad or too deep for offline tools? Sometimes the only way to cover a subject is with a live discussion. Three examples are brainstorming and ideation, which often requires people to interact in real-time, planning that requires sustained attention from multiple people, or quick recurring meetings where half of the value is routine.

2. Is there a clear agenda for the meeting? Not having an agenda is the easiest way to send a meeting off the rails before it even starts. But if you DO have an agenda (and use it to think ahead), you can focus on the parts in need of team attention and get a lot done, quickly.

3. Is it urgent to schedule the meeting in the next week or so? This question is really asking a few smaller questions at the same time… Will there be negative consequences for delaying the meeting? Is it a good use of time versus other options on your plate? To save time, use this handy guide next time you plan a meeting.