Why Your Meetings Are Broken—and How to Fix Them With Rebecca Hinds, PHD.
Lessons from Episode 65 of the Her Resources Podcast with Rebecca Hinds, PhD
If you’ve ever left a meeting feeling drained, frustrated, or wondering why it even existed, you’re not alone.
Meetings have become one of the most exhausting parts of modern work—not because collaboration is bad, but because so many meetings are poorly designed. In Episode 65 of the Her Resources Podcast, host Linda sits down with Rebecca Hinds, PhD, organizational behavior expert and author of Your Best Meeting Ever, to unpack why meetings feel broken and what leaders can do differently.
This conversation couldn’t be more timely. As Rebecca’s new book releases this week, she offers research-backed insights and practical tools to help organizations reclaim time, rebuild trust, and design work that actually supports people.
The Real Cost of Bad Meetings
One of the most powerful ideas from this episode is that bad meetings don’t just waste time—they drain trust, energy, and sanity.
When meetings are unnecessary, unfocused, or bloated with the wrong people, they quietly erode workplace culture. They interrupt deep work, create resentment, and leave people emotionally exhausted. Over time, this contributes to burnout—not because people aren’t resilient enough, but because the system itself is flawed.
Rebecca reframes meetings as a system issue, not a personal failure. When meetings are treated as default reactions instead of intentional tools, everyone pays the price.
The “Meeting Junk Drawer” Problem
Rebecca introduces the concept of the meeting junk drawer—the place where meetings live simply because they’ve always existed.
Status updates, recurring check-ins, alignment meetings, and information sharing often get tossed into the calendar without much thought. Over time, these meetings accumulate, even when they no longer serve a purpose.
The result? Calendars packed with meetings that feel impossible to cancel, even when no real work is happening.
Meetings Should Be Treated Like Products
One of Rebecca’s core arguments is simple but transformative: meetings should be treated like products.
Think about it—meetings are where decisions get made, priorities are set, and culture is built. Yet they’re often the least intentionally designed part of work.
Great products are:
Designed with users in mind
Built with clear goals
Measured for effectiveness
Iterated on over time
Meetings should be no different.
Instead of designing meetings for the organizer’s convenience, Rebecca encourages leaders to design meetings for the users—the people attending them. This shift alone can dramatically improve engagement, clarity, and outcomes.
Does This Really Need to Be a Meeting?
Another practical takeaway from Episode 65 is learning how to decide what actually deserves to be a meeting.
Rebecca shares a simple framework: meetings should exist to decide, discuss, debate, or develop. If a gathering doesn’t serve one of those purposes, it likely doesn’t need to happen in real time.
Information sharing, status updates, and routine communication are often better handled asynchronously. When meetings are reserved for meaningful collaboration, they become far more effective—and far less draining.
Efficiency Isn’t the Goal—Humanity Is
While efficiency is often celebrated in modern workplaces, Rebecca offers an important reminder: efficiency alone is failing us.
Optimizing every minute of the day leaves no room for creativity, connection, or thoughtful decision-making. Humans aren’t machines, and work systems that ignore that reality lead directly to burnout.
Instead, Rebecca encourages leaders to design meetings that create space—for thinking, for connection, and for moments of delight. These human elements aren’t distractions from work; they’re what make meaningful work possible.
The Role of AI in Meetings
The episode also explores the growing role of AI in meetings. While AI can be incredibly helpful for automating administrative tasks like scheduling, transcription, and follow-ups, it can also make meetings worse when used without intention.
Rebecca cautions against replacing human presence with bots and emphasizes that technology should support better meetings—not excuse poor design. When used thoughtfully, AI can help leaders see patterns, balance participation, and improve outcomes. When misused, it becomes another layer of meeting theater.
One Small Change That Makes a Big Difference
If there’s one thing listeners can do immediately, Rebecca recommends starting small. Shorten one meeting. Reduce the attendee list. Remove one agenda item. Question one recurring invite.
Even small changes can spark a mindset shift—one where meetings no longer control the calendar, but instead support the work that truly matters.
Listen to Episode 65
If meetings are a constant source of frustration in your work life, Episode 65 of the Her Resources Podcast will change how you think about them.
🎧 Listen to the full episode here:
https://linktr.ee/hrpodcast
📘 Learn more about Rebecca Hinds’ new book Your Best Meeting Ever (releasing this week):
https://www.rebeccahinds.com/book
About the Her Resources Podcast
The Her Resources Podcast is a space for honest conversations about leadership, work, and the habits that shape our lives. Each episode amplifies women’s voices and shares practical tools to help listeners thrive in HR, leadership, and beyond.
