Staff meetings can be incredibly productive. Or unproductive—and more often the latter. If your staff meetings are terrible, it’s your fault because you’re not structuring them well.

One of the most surreal business experiences I’ve ever had relates to a staff meeting. I’d joined a new team, and my boss’s assistant sent me all the calendar invites for the division’s recurring meetings. One invite in particular grabbed my attention. When I saw it, I immediately called her.

“Hey, I think you made a mistake on the staff meeting invite you sent me. You set it for 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. I think you meant 10 a.m.”

“No,” she said. “The invite is correct.”

“Um, what? A 14-hour staff meeting? Every month?”

“Yes. You guys start at 8 a.m. and run until about 5. Then everyone goes home, changes, and meets for dinner at 6, and you guys meet until 10.”

“All right. Setting aside the 8 to 5 part, it’s just a dinner afterward, right?”

“No, you guys work during the meal.”

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