When does the work get done?

I hear some version of this from leaders regularly: All I do is meet about doing. When do I actually get to do? Or another one, I need “think time.”

This isn’t a time management problem. It’s a culture problem, and it’s costing organizations more than they realize.

Focus time is the condition under which actual work happens. Strategy gets written. Problems get solved. The thinking that can’t happen in a 45-minute Zoom with eight people on it happens in a quiet hour with a closed door or a silenced phone.

Organizations that protect focus time are sending a message: we trust you to work. Organizations that fill every hour with meetings about the work are sending a different one.

Do you remember when Shopify took a dramatic step to send a message about meetings a couple of years ago? The company deleted every recurring meeting with three or more people from all calendars and told employees to wait two weeks before rescheduling them, if at all. At the same time, the organization instituted meeting-free Wednesdays and limited large group meetings to a six-hour window on Thursdays. The parameters redefined the culture.

For leaders managing teams: look at your people’s calendars honestly. No unscheduled time in a given week means a team that’s reacting constantly and creating rarely. The work that moves organizations forward almost never happens in a meeting. It happens in the space between them.

For candidates evaluating employers: ask what a typical week looks like. Back-to-back meetings with no breathing room is information worth having before you accept an offer.

Protecting time to think is how the work gets done.