A good meeting should generally be transmitting information effectively or driving to a decision. If a meeting is unable to do that, it should be stopped. Stop

A good meeting should generally be transmitting information effectively or driving to a decision. If a meeting is unable to do that, it should be stopped. Stopping a meeting in the middle of the planned duration is a bit dramatic, but if it’s clear after 15 minutes the group collectively doesn’t have the information needed to make a decision, its worth stopping. I’m currently spending a quarter of my day or more in status meetings of various types. I will absolutely tell people I’m dropping (which is a the “lite” version of stopping a meeting) if they stop providing value.