Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.

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Whether they happen weekly, monthly, or quarterly (or even daily), recurring meetings are often a waste of time. To know whether yours are worth keeping, consider a few factors.

o First, make sure the meeting has a clearly articulated reason to exist. Ask yourself, “If we canceled this meeting, who besides me would care?”

o Second, determine the right cadence. It may seem obvious, but a meeting’s frequency and length must align with its purpose. For example, teams and task forces governing near-term priorities will need to meet more frequently for shorter amounts of time, while those focused on longer-term priorities should meet less often for longer amounts of time.

o Finally, figure out the right composition of attendees. Don’t let hierarchy decide who shows up; only those who have something specific to contribute should be included.

And remember, even best practices won’t fix a meeting that shouldn’t be happening at all.

Adapted from “How to Fix the Most Soul-Crushing Meetings,” by Ron Carucci

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Here is a direct link to the complete article.