The Snack-Free Strategy Session
Fiona had grown tired, no, downright exasperated, by the endless cycle of Tuesday strategy meetings that seemed to drag on forever, stretching from strategy to speculation, and always, doughnuts. It was the same ritual every week: 1.5 hours of meandering discussions, fuelled by an ever-present box of pastries.
The doughnut box, placed strategically in the centre of the table, had become a sugary offering to the gods of corporate productivity. Everyone arrived, coffee in hand, eyes drawn to the glistening doughnuts like they held the key to surviving the morning. But the sugar crash? That came like clockwork, leaving the room groggy and meetings dragging on longer as everyone fought to stay awake.
Enough was enough.
By the end of yet another sluggish Tuesday meeting, where her team seemed more engaged with their doughnuts than the agenda, Fiona made her decision. She would break the cycle.
“Right, quick announcement before you all go,” Fiona called as people began to shuffle out of the room. “Next Tuesday, we’re changing things up.”
A few colleagues paused, intrigued.
“Starting next week, we’ll have a stand-up meeting. Thirty minutes max. No chairs, no pastries, and if you want coffee, you’ll need to bring your own.”
The room froze.
“Wait... no chairs?” someone asked, like Fiona had just declared standing illegal.
“Correct. Standing keeps us focused, we’ll power through the agenda, and be done in 30 minutes.” Fiona stood firm, sensing the incoming protests.
“And... no pastries?” another colleague asked in a voice that suggested Fiona had cancelled Christmas.
“No pastries,” Fiona confirmed, stifling a smile at the horror-struck expressions. The room murmured in disbelief. A stand-up meeting was radical enough, but no doughnuts? This was corporate heresy.
Yet, Fiona held her ground. She had watched her team glaze over, quite literally, too many times. Next Tuesday would be different, and whether they liked it or not, change was coming.
The following Tuesday, the first stand-up meeting began with all the enthusiasm of a forced fitness class. Colleagues stood awkwardly around the table, eyeing the doughnut-less surface like it was a personal betrayal. The chairs, now stacked in the corner, seemed to silently protest this new regime.
By minute ten, the fidgeting began. By minute twenty, you could hear the shuffle of feet, as if standing was a physical endurance test no one had trained for. Someone leaned against the wall, as if they might collapse from the sheer strain of being upright for 20 minutes. Another colleague gazed longingly at their empty coffee cup, mourning the absence of a sugary treat to pair with it.
But as Fiona guided the meeting, something unexpected happened: discussions were sharper. Decisions were made faster. The usual meandering was gone. Without the comfort of chairs or the distraction of pastries, people were actually focused.
By minute thirty, the meeting was over. That was a first.
As they returned to their desks, the team looked stunned. Not only had the meeting ended on time, they had accomplished everything on the agenda. For the first time in months, they didn’t need an hour-long post-pastry recovery period. They were free, focused, and ready to tackle the day.
As weeks passed, Fiona’s stand-up meetings became the new norm. The team, initially resistant, began to see the benefits. Begrudgingly at first, but the results spoke for themselves. No longer did they spend the next 45 minutes battling a sugar-induced haze, struggling to keep up with the rest of the day. Instead, they powered through their mornings with energy and clarity.
Other departments began to take notice. “I hear their meetings only last 30 minutes!” someone whispered in the hallway, as though sharing an underground secret. Word spread, and soon Fiona’s strategy became the subject of office-wide intrigue.
Though the doughnuts were gone, the memory of the old meetings lingered. Sometimes, colleagues would nostalgically reminisce about the “doughnut days,” as if remembering a more innocent time.
“Remember when we used to sit for two hours, stuffing our faces with Danish pastries?” someone would sigh wistfully.
“Yes, those were the golden days of corporate indulgence,” another would agree.
But the truth was undeniable: meetings were better now. Shorter, sharper, and free from the post-pastry slump. Fiona’s stand-up strategy had worked. Even if they missed the doughnuts, because, really, who wouldn’t?, they couldn’t deny the benefits of starting their day without a sugar crash.
By the end of the month, what had started as a radical change had become the highlight of the team’s week. No longer did people dread the 1.5-hour slog of endless bullet points and doughnut distractions. Now, they zoomed through the agenda, energised and ready to tackle their mornings by 9:30 a.m.
Fiona, naturally, was quietly smug. She had broken the cycle of mindless snacking and sluggish meetings, replacing it with a new culture of efficiency. Sure, there were still occasional grumbles about the lack of pastries, but those had grown quieter as the benefits spoke for themselves.
Every Tuesday, as the team gathered for their stand-up, there was a new sense of purpose. The doughnuts were long gone, but no one truly missed them. Well, not too much, anyway.
If your meetings have turned into bloated snack-fests, why not try a stand-up meeting?
Keep it short, focused, and free of unnecessary distractions.
You’ll cut down on the endless chatter and mindless snacking, and your team will leave feeling energised and ready to tackle the day.
