Meetings are an important part of how we collaborate, but too often, they feel more like a waste of time rather than a productive engagement. How often have you left a meeting feeling like you’ve lost time and momentum? Our guest has found a way to reclaim your time and make every meeting count. Today’s guest is Yari Ising. Yari is the founder of The Ising Agency, a firm offering operations, recruiting, and admin support for stretched-thin in-house teams. With over 10 years of experience leading teams, she has seen firsthand the common blindspots that managers have, along with what employees need most from managers. Yari reveals her “unusual” yet proven strategies and practices that have helped her team and clients improve their meetings and get more done. We explore the benefits of no-meeting days, the exit strategy, and more meetings dos and don’ts. Join the conversation now! Get FREE mini-episode guides with the big idea from the week’s episode delivered to your inbox when you subscribe to my weekly email. Conversation Topics (00:00) Intro(01:17) The problem with having full days of meetings(03:12) How to stop the cycle of endless unnecessary meetings(08:33) A healthy way to implement no-meeting days(10:08) Benefits of no-meeting days(12:59) How to design meetings that work best for your team(15:00) The graceful exit strategy(19:14) How to keep your team members up-to-date when they aren’t in a meeting(22:00) Meeting dos and don’ts(25:20) A great manager Yari has worked for(26:17) Keep up with Yari(27:20) [Extended Episode Only] The essentialist approach to meetings(30:19) [Extended Episode Only] Helpful tools for effective meetings Additional Resources: - Get the extended episode by Joining The Modern Manager Podcast+ Community for just $15 per month - Read the full transcript here - Follow me on Instagram here  - Visit my website for more here - Build your team’s skills here Keep up with Yari - Follow Yari on LinkedIn here - Check more of Yari’s works here Free Workshop Handout for Optimizing Meeting Participation Download my workshop handout for optimizing meeting participation. You’ll learn how to decide who should be engaged before, during and after a meeting, how to engage them, and how to make the shift from everyone being invited to engaging people appropriately at each stage. To get these guest bonuses and many other member benefits, become a member of The Modern Manager Podcast+ Community. --------------------- The Modern Manager is a leadership podcast for rockstar managers who want to create a working environment where people thrive, and great work gets done. Follow The Modern Manager on your favorite podcast platform so you won’t miss an episode!