If you’re a senior leader, your calendar is likely packed with one-on-one meetings. But instead of fostering alignment, an overload of one-on-ones often creates fragmentation, siloed thinking, and trust issues. It’s time to shift how you use your meeting time.
Use one-on-ones for development, not operations. Make these meetings quarterly and dedicate them to career growth and feedback—not tactical updates. Block 90-minute sessions that focus on leadership goals, not project status.
Shift decision-making to capability meetings. Identify five to seven core capabilities in your organization—like innovation or customer experience—and hold standing meetings with the relevant cross-functional leaders. This ensures strategic clarity and faster, more aligned execution.
Put the right people in the room. Avoid the work of briefing others after the fact. Capability meetings bring the decision-makers together at the right moment so that alignment happens in real time, not retroactively.
Free up executive team time. When capability meetings handle cross-functional work, your full executive team can focus on enterprise strategy and long-term priorities instead of replaying decisions made elsewhere. Center executive meeting agendas around questions like “What are the few issues that require the full weight of this team?” or “Where does our system need realignment?”
