Exploring How Excessive Meetings Undermine Genuine Team Collaboration with Michael Saltzstein

Michael Saltzstein: Why More Meetings Often Lead to Weaker Workplace Relationships

In today’s workplace, meetings are often seen as the go-to solution for getting aligned, making decisions, and encouraging collaboration. But even with the best intentions, more meetings don’t always lead to better results. Michael Saltzstein points out a growing challenge in many organizations. As the number of meetings goes up, real connections and effective teamwork often go down. The result is a workforce that feels stretched thin and busy but not necessarily engaged. 

For a lot of employees, the day becomes a constant shuffle from one call to the next. There’s little time left for focused work or meaningful conversations. While meetings might keep everyone in the loop, they often fall short of creating space for honest dialogue, psychological safety, or the kind of creative thinking that drives real progress. 

When Presence Doesn’t Equal Participation 

Just because someone attends a meeting doesn’t mean they’re mentally or emotionally engaged. Zoom fatigue, unclear agendas and one-way presentations can leave team members passive and disconnected. Over time, meetings become more about status updates than shared problem-solving, turning collaboration into a performance instead of a practice. 

In such environments, people may be physically present but cognitively absent. Worse, the most valuable voices, often the quietest or least senior, may be drowned out by dominant participants. It leads to group thinking, missed insights, and weakened team cohesion. 

The Illusion of Alignment 

Excessive meetings can create a false sense of alignment. When teams constantly meet without space to act on discussions, progress slows. Issues are repeatedly revisited without resolution. This “collaboration theater” may feel productive, but it erodes clarity, trust and ownership. 

Frequent meetings often replace informal conversations that build real relationships. Quick check-ins at the coffee machine or spontaneous whiteboard sessions once encouraged unfiltered creativity and emotional bonding. In contrast, scheduled calls with stacked agendas and limited time offer little room for human connection. 

Rethinking Collaboration for Depth Over Frequency 

To reverse the collaboration paradox, organizations must prioritize quality over quantity. Not all collaboration needs to happen in real time. Asynchronous tools like shared documents, recorded updates or message boards allow team members to contribute thoughtfully and on their schedules. 

When meetings are necessary, they should be intentional, inclusive and structured for dialogue, not just information flow. Shorter, less frequent meetings with clearly defined outcomes often lead to deeper engagement. Leaders can also reserve time for “no meeting” days, giving teams uninterrupted space to focus and reflect. 

Leaders should ask whether meetings are serving a connection or merely filling calendars. Real collaboration happens when people feel heard, have time to think, and are empowered to contribute meaningfully. 

Building Meaningful Connection Beyond the Calendar 

Ultimately, collaboration isn’t about the number of meetings but the strength of the relationships between team members. Michael Saltzstein emphasizes that psychological safety, trust and shared purpose are the true foundations of a collaborative culture. These elements thrive not in constant meetings, but in environments where people are encouraged to listen, challenge, and support one another. When organizations shift from performative collaboration to purposeful connection, they reduce meeting overload and unlock their teams' full potential.