The Surprising Science of Meetings

Rogelberg's core argument cuts against the common complaint that companies simply hold too many meetings, insisting instead that the real problem is bad design: unclear purpose, wrong attendees, and no mechanism for feedback. What separates this from typical productivity advice is its grounding in his own organizational-science research and employee surveys rather than anecdote, including concrete tools like pre-meeting question templates meant to replace guesswork with measurement. The book treats meetings as a diagnosable system rather than an inevitable corporate nuisance, which makes its recommendations feel more like protocol than platitude. It is narrower in ambition than a general leadership book, aimed squarely at people who run meetings and want evidence for what to change first.