But there are some small, but very significant changes you could do right now to change the way you work, and the way you meet from this point on.

Follow these 5 tips to a more valuable, and, best of all, shorter, meeting:

1. Know why you’re meeting

Too often I have heard lawyers say that their evenings (when they should be with their families, friends or enjoying leisure time) are spent catching up on emails they have missed. Why? Or at least, why are you meeting? The problem is that you spend all day in meetings that have little or no point. Any meeting you run needs to have a decisive action assigned to it.

Are you sharing client information, deciding about the business or coming up with a solution to a client or team problem? If you can’t meet one of these criteria then you have no reason to meet, so cancel it and communicate some other way.

2. Start on time

Punctuality, or rather lack thereof, is interpreted as a lack of respect for others’ time, which is heightened if you bill by the hour.

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Most meetings these days are booked for an hour, which is valuable client time. Worse yet, if we are late we are eating into everyone’s time, not just our own, and this has a compound effect on ALL client work involved.

So just show up on time. It’s really that simple. If you’re the one conducting the meeting then start it at the exact time scheduled, irrespective of who is in the room. Don’t tolerate anything else.

3. Follow a prepared agenda

Ever been to a meeting about a meeting? Without a clear and focused agenda, no one knows why they are there or how to prepare for it in advance, which means they waste time when they arrive trying to find out through pointless chit-chat.

What outcome or result is everyone headed for in the meeting? Send out a clear agenda with the meeting purpose and desired result so people understand where they are headed at least 24 hours before the meeting actually takes place. Let them know in advance what legal reports or documents they need to contribute so they show up ready to begin.

4. Facilitate discussion

If no one is moderating the meeting, then the loudest or most passionate voices are all that is heard. Those that may be more introverted may not be able to get a word in, or have the time and space for their usually well-considered opinion. That’s a real opportunity cost.

Having a process and a structure to facilitate the discussion means that everyone can contribute evenly. Send questions out in advance, along with the agenda, to give everyone a chance to consider their answer and contribute evenly.

Then nominate a meeting chair to facilitate a one-minute discussion for each person about their point of view. This person has the right to interrupt and park non-relevant issues when you go off track.

5. Leave the tech outside

How often have you sat through 150 slides or noticed people in meetings checking their Facebook? Speakers read this as a lack of interest in what they are saying, which contributes to a feeling of disrespect and can create all kinds of angst and anxiety, not to mention miscommunication and client errors.

Ban PowerPoint, no in fact, ban laptops and phones entirely. Announce the meeting as a tech-free zone. Yes, I know that’s hard when you’re in legal. So the only exception to this would be if you nominate a scribe (one person only) to take notes online if they must and share with everybody after.

Donna McGeorge is a speaker, author and mentor who helps people make their work work.