Why Microsoft Launched 25-minute Meetings

Coming up in today’s edition:

1. One quick win: the ideal meeting length for performance

2. One proven system: synchronisation with your team

3. One million-dollar question: to improve team weaknesses

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1. MICROSOFT’S METHOD TO REDUCE “ATTENTION RESIDUE” BETWEEN MEETINGS

Microsoft researchers found that taking short breaks between meetings reduces stress and drastically improves performance.

The simplest way to action this is to default to 25-minute calls/meetings, instead of the normal 30 minutes.

This time for you and your team creates space to recharge, reflect, and reset before the next task or meeting.

Most calls/meetings have 5 minutes of wasted time on pleasantries, so just cut that and get straight to the point.

Plus the severe, negative, stress impact of back-to-back meetings on your brain’s beta waves can be seen in the diagram below 😳

Every meeting should have a well-structured agenda (sent ahead of time) to avoid unnecessary explanations and specific time slots for each topic to prevent any one subject from monopolising the meeting.

If you’d like Amazon’s 6-page meeting template that Jeff Bezos uses, reply to this email “Amazon Memo” and I’ll send it over 🤝

Donna McGeorge’s book “The 25 Minute Meeting” goes into more detail on how you can make your meetings as productive as possible too.

2. ENGINEER SYNCHRONISED TEAM BREAKS

Covid changed how we work forever.

Remote working became the norm, our social interactions decreased and the time we made to bond with our colleagues slowly started to erode.

Now we are moving back to the office and working with others, a simple tactic that you can implement to start to rebuild the team bonds needed for high performance is to set times for synchronised lunch or break times together.

Why? Three core reasons:

Performance & Retention —> A Bank of America study within call centres showed that shifting to “synchronised breaks” from “randomised breaks” tripled retention rates and improved performance by 23%.

Productivity —> Research from the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology (2020) also found that employees in synchronised break systems showed a 15% improvement in overall productivity compared to those with unscheduled or random break patterns. The study attributed this increase to reduced interruptions and more efficient use of break times.

Wellbeing & Burnout Prevention —> A meta-analysis published in the Occupational Health Science journal found that employees who took regular, synchronized breaks were 33% less likely to experience burnout symptoms and reported a 27% higher job satisfaction rate. Scheduled breaks were particularly beneficial in high-stress environments where employees might otherwise skip breaks.

So here are three things you can do today:

1) Get all of your team managers to set times for synchronised lunch or break times for their staff.

2) Ensure that staff have places to enjoy time together during breaks to encourage social interactions.

3) Invest in great coffee, lunch or snack options that will encourage your staff stop for a moment.

3. WHAT ARE YOUR BACKHANDS?

We all have skills where we excel and those where we are weaker.

One of the best methods to improve as a team is to apply the tennis terminology of forehands and backhands 🎾

Think of your forehand as the skills or tasks you complete that win you points and build your confidence.

Your backhand? That’s the skill that needs sharpening, the challenge that, once mastered, can turn you into a well-rounded, unstoppable force.

The best example of someone who was self-aware enough to share and improve on their backhand is global superstar Ed Sheeran.

There is an illusion that he was born with natural vocal talent but this is simply not true. This rendition of his 14-year-old self singing his song “Addicted” is living proof that working on your backhand can transform your career trajectory.

He wrote that ear piercing song at 14 but became universally recognised as one of the best singer songwriters on the planet just 5 years later.

When you expose a backhand in a team setting, it’s amazing what happens.

People start talking about them, reaching out to each other for help more and it moves the team away from the dangerous illusion of perfection.

Strong cultures seek ways to spotlight the skills and abilities they want to improve.

So add this question to your team standup this week, what are your backhands?

(Psss… don’t forget to share yours too!!)

MY TOP FINDS OF THE WEEK 🔍

For your performance:

• How to master confidence - reframing it as a skill rather than a personality trait (LINK)

For your team:

• This tool will help save your team hours of work (LINK)

For your health:

• Why Dr Peter Attia thinks you should focus on improving your VO2 Max, not just your HRV to increase your longevity (LINK)

ONE-ON-ONE COACHING SPOTS NOW AVAILABLE

The feedback on the newsletter each week gives me so much energy - thank you! One of the consistent requests recently is how to apply some of the concepts to specific challenges that you are having with your own team.

So I’ve opened up five slots in my diary each week to provide one on one coaching and problem solving so that you can get Elite Team Tactics personalised just for you 👇

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Have an awesome week!

👋 - Alex