“This meeting could have been an email” – How to make it happen!

You’ve seen the memes, and you’ve probably thought it yourself… “This meeting could have been an email.” As an internal communications pro, you’re probably nodding your head right now, because you can see (and hear about) unnecessary meetings all across the organization. Yet, in many companies, meetings are still the default. People are taking too much time to share simple updates, get quick approvals, or review status reports everyone’s already seen.

According to Clockwise, it’s up to 18 meetings per person per week at large companies in 2024! But you have the power to help change that! Internal comms can encourage smarter communication practices across the company. 

While you’re probably not scheduling all the meetings yourself, you are responsible for helping employees communicate better. That includes showing managers, leaders, and team members how to make better use of the 4 primary internal communications channels to replace meetings that aren’t needed.

In this article, we’ll break down why asynchronous communication (especially email) is often a much better choice than a meeting, and we’ll give you a practical flowchart to everyone at the company decide when to switch from meetings to email. Plus, we’ll share examples of common meetings that could easily be turned into emails, and how you can help your organization move toward more efficient, effective communication.

Let’s get into it!

Why email (and other async comms) can replace so many meetings

Meetings are time-consuming, interruptive, and – let’s face it – not always memorable or productive. But it’s not just about eliminating time-wasters. Shifting away from meetings to more asynchronous communication like email benefits the whole company. It:

• Frees up time for focused work across the org
• Gives employees more flexibility and autonomy
• Creates a more inclusive communication environment (especially for teams spread across locations or supporting frontline workers who aren’t in front of computers all day)

As someone who understands the value of clear and effective internal communication, you’re in a great position to advocate for this shift. Here’s why email (and other asynchronous tools) often makes more sense than a meeting for the different types of employees you support.

For corporate employees (in-person or remote)

Office employees take the brunt of meeting overload, and probably make most of the memes. Some meetings are necessary, most aren’t. 

Here’s why async communication is frequently a better choice for them:

• Calendar craziness: “Looks like everyone’s available in… 3 weeks.” What? The overlapping of calendars is tough, even on small teams, and pushes out plans for the sake of the meeting. 
• Flexibility and focus: Once you find the time, a meeting forces everyone to drop what they’re doing at the same time. That’s disruptive! With internal email, people can engage with the content on their own schedules and when they have the mental space to give thoughtful input.
• Built-in documentation: Meetings often result in vague takeaways and scattered notes, but emails provide a clear, written record that can be referred back to later. This is a major advantage for tracking decisions, action items, and results.
• Time zone freedom: For global teams, coordinating meetings across multiple time zones can be a logistical nightmare. Asynchronous communication allows everyone to contribute without needing to sync calendars. (Use a tool with time zone sending to hit inboxes at the right time for everyone!)

For frontline or deskless employees

Frontline workers face a different set of challenges. They probably don’t have access to Zoom or Teams and often can’t drop what they’re doing to attend a meeting. Async communication is a lifeline for keeping them informed and engaged without disrupting their work. 

Here’s why email (or other tools like employee SMS) works well for them:

• Non-interruptive updates: Frontline employees can check emails or messages during their breaks or between tasks – there’s no need to stop work or gather everyone in one place.
• Access via mobile: Many frontline workers use mobile devices on the job, and email or text messaging allows them to stay informed without needing a desktop setup.
• Timely information: Important updates like policy changes, shift changes, or safety instructions can be shared quickly and without the need to coordinate everyone’s schedules.

You can help everyone turn meetings into emails!

By shifting away from unnecessary meetings and toward more flexible, asynchronous communication, you can help both corporate and frontline employees stay more engaged and productive. But that shift won’t happen on its own. 

This is where you come in. How?

• Get leadership buy-in. Start by getting leadership on board. When the strategy’s championed by execs and leaders, more people will adopt it! Provide data that highlights how much time is spent in meetings (use general studies or try running a survey to get it). Describe the benefits of improved focus and increased engagement on times… make sure leaders know it’s not just to save time but to increase productivity! 

• Create some guidelines or best practices. You can’t just say “cancel your meetings and send the info.” You need to make it easy for leaders to move their teams to this model. Consider making a resource hub or toolkit that includes:

1. 1. 1. A flowchart for decision-making (grab our free one here!)
      2. Concrete examples of how it’s done, using real meetings at your company
      3. A guide to sending great comms that you can send once and then house on your intranet. Focus on subject lines and how to lay out expectations in an email.

• Use your internal communications channels! This is the perfect instance for a smart internal communications plan. Send an announcement from leadership (you can ghostwrite it) announcing the shift. Then launch an internal campaign using your at least all 4 of your essential tools to make sure everyone understands. Make sure you’re prepared to show how it’s done, too.

• Highlight meeting-to-email success stories. Spotlight teams that embrace the shift in your newsletter and on your intranet. Bonus points for getting testimonials from happy team members who’ve eliminated a particularly disliked meeting! Ask your managers to help you track time saved so you can put numbers to your success.

• Ask for feedback and empower employees. Make sure everyone has access to the tools, then encourage open feedback loops to gauge how it’s going and give team members a stake in the process.

This meeting could have been an email: the flowchart

An easy way to empower your team (especially busy managers and leaders) to cut down on meetings is to give them a method to follow. That’s where a flowchart comes in. 

Meeting overload happens by attrition… people just forget there’s a better way! A flowchart can help them slow down, think through their meeting and communication goals, and make a conscious choice about whether or not a meeting is necessary. Then, it can help them create a more efficient email.

Download the meeting vs. email flowchart here to share with your team members! 

There are five basic questions to walk through about the goals, topic, takeaways, and team members involved in the planned meeting. Answer each to get direction on whether that meeting should be an email, and how to make either more effective. Here’s the short version: 

1. What’s the purpose of the meeting?
2. What’s the availability of attendees?
3. Is there urgency?
4. How complex is the topic?
5. Do you need real-time collaboration?

The top 3 meetings that could have been an email

Once you’ve gotten team leaders thinking critically about which meetings they really need, you can help nudge them towards actually doing. Use your weekly newsletter or other comms channels to feature ideas or (better yet) feature someone who’s successfully eliminated a meeting!

These are the top four meetings that could have been an email, paired with some tips on how to pull it off!

Status update meetings

Example: Weekly team check-ins to report project progress

The email version: 

• A weekly email summarizing the key updates from each team member (gather them in a Slack or Teams thread)
• Use bullet points to keep the email scannable, and link out to your project management tool for deeper detail

How to advocate: Share a simple template for status update emails with your managers, showing them how much time they’ll save by switching. Make sure they’re setting clear expectations for their team members and deadlines for follow-ups. 

Project kickoff meetings

Example: Setting the roles, responsibilities, and timelines at the beginning of a project

The email version: 

• Outline the information in a super-clear, organized email. Write out the scope team roles, key deadlines, and next steps that you would have shared in the email anyway. 
• Include plenty of links to resources, documents, and shared files. Establish the day-to-day communication channel (Teams or Slack) and share that, too. Provide direction for where comments or questions should go. 

How to advocate: Distribute a project kickoff template that ticks all the boxes for your teams. Use your comms channels to highlight how it works, and the fact that it gives employees time to digest information before the meeting to ask more thoughtful questions and dive straight into the work.

Training sessions

Example: Sharing a new policy or tool with team members

The email version:

• Use Loom to easily record video tutorials yourself and share links via email to the team. Employees can watch (and re-watch if needed) at their own schedule. Include a “watch by” deadline!
• Follow up with an email summary of the key points and offer a time window and channel for follow-up questions.

How to advocate: Teach your managers and leadership to use Loom and empower them to share the tool themselves without internal comms help. Emphasize the flexibility that Loom + email or SMS gives employees, especially for frontline or remote workers. 

Best practices for turning meetings into emails that used to be meetings

Clearly, turning meetings into emails isn’t magic, and it takes a lot more than just hitting ‘send.’ If you want this practice to take hold at your company, lead by example and set a standard for clear, effective email communication. Follow these three easy practices:

Keep it structured. Long, disorganized emails are just as awful as a long meeting. Encourage team leaders to use clear subject lines, bullet points, and headers to make content easy to read and remember. 

Be specific. Vague emails will create confusion. Make sure managers are clear in their comms about who is responsible for what, and when the deadline is for any responses or next steps.

Avoid overload. Don’t let an email become a “mini-meeting” by dumping too much information into one message. Suggest breaking complex topics into smaller emails or linking to supporting docs for a deeper look.

 

Next steps: get an email platform that works harder

Workshop is the #1 email platform for internal communications for a reason! It makes creating, sending, and managing emails to your teams simpler and simply more delightful. When you decide to say “This meeting could have been an email” company-wide, it’s important to have the tools to make it easy. In Workshop, you can add as many users as you like (without paying more) and give them all access to easy employee distribution lists, a drag-and-drop email builder, and powerful analytics that let everyone see who read the email and who didn’t. Check it out in action below!