How long should a meeting be?

How long should a meeting be? As long as its agenda needs, and no longer. In practice most status meetings and check-ins fit in 15 to 25 minutes, most meetings that must reach a decision fit in 25 to 50, and workshops or planning sessions need longer blocks with breaks. The most common reason a meeting lasts an hour is that an hour was the calendar's default.

This guide gives suggested lengths by meeting type, explains why shorter defaults help, and shows the settings in Google Calendar and Outlook that shorten meetings automatically. The suggestions below are rules of thumb from practice, not research findings; adjust them to your team.

How long should a meeting be, by type

Two ideas sit behind these numbers. Length follows the agenda: a meeting with two short items does not need 50 minutes. Recurring meetings should be shorter than one-offs, because the context carries over from last time.

Why shorter defaults help

Meetings tend to fill the time they are given. A 30-minute slot for a 15-minute discussion usually becomes a 30-minute meeting. Booking less time first, and extending only if needed, changes that.

A shorter default also leaves a gap between back-to-back meetings. A meeting that ends at 10:25 instead of 10:30 gives people time to write down what they agreed, find the next link, or take a break. That gap is also the moment to write the one line that turns a discussion into an action item.

Shorter meetings do need more preparation. The agenda has to be sent in advance, reading has to be done before, and the person running the meeting has to watch the time. The meeting agenda template puts a time box on each item, which is where most of the saving comes from.

Shorter meetings settings in Google Calendar and Outlook

Both major calendar tools can shorten meetings by default. The names below are as of September 2026, from each vendor's own documentation; menus change, so check against your version.

Google Calendar

Google's own guidance describes a Speedy meetings checkbox in Settings > Event settings. It shortens your preset meeting time by 5 or 10 minutes, depending on the length, so a default of 45 minutes becomes 40 (Google Workspace blog). The same screen sets the default event duration. In a work account, an administrator may also set an organisation-wide default; your own setting still applies to events you create.

Outlook

Microsoft documents this for Outlook for Microsoft 365, Outlook 2024 and new Outlook for Windows (Microsoft Support):

• Classic Outlook: File > Options > Calendar > Calendar options, tick Shorten appointments and meetings, choose End early or Start late, and pick the minutes for meetings Less than one hour and One hour or longer.
• New Outlook for Windows: Settings > Calendar > Events and invitations, tick Shorten duration for all events, choose the minutes, and select Save.

Microsoft notes that the setting does not change existing or recurring meetings already created. You have to edit those by hand. The same page does not describe the setting for Outlook for Mac or Outlook on the web, so check your version.

Changing recurring meetings

Because neither setting touches existing series, the biggest saving comes from reviewing your recurring meetings one by one. For each, ask whether it can be shorter, less frequent, or a written update instead. How to reduce meetings walks through that audit.

Signs a meeting is the wrong length

Too long:

• The agenda is finished and the meeting keeps going.
• The same point is made several times by different people.
• People open other work halfway through.

Too short:

• Decisions are deferred to "next time" repeatedly.
• The last agenda item never gets reached.
• A follow-up meeting is booked after most sessions to finish.

The fix for "too short" is not always a longer meeting. Often it is fewer agenda items, or reading sent in advance so the meeting can go straight to the decision.

Ending on time

A meeting that is booked short but runs over saves nothing. Habits that help:

• Start on time. Waiting five minutes for late arrivals makes the whole meeting late and teaches people that arriving late is fine.
• Put a time box on each agenda item and say out loud when one runs over.
• Save the last few minutes for confirming decisions and action items, with owners and dates.
• End early when you are done. Nobody objects to getting time back.

Length and cost

Length is one of the three inputs to what a meeting costs: the people, the time, and what their time is worth. Shaving 10 minutes off a weekly meeting with eight people saves more than an hour of people's time each week. What a meeting costs has the formula and a worked example.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good length for a meeting?

Long enough for its agenda. For most recurring meetings that is 25 minutes or less; for a meeting that has to reach a decision, 25 to 50 minutes. Longer sessions such as workshops need breaks.

Why are 25-minute meetings recommended?

A 25-minute meeting ends before the half-hour, so people with back-to-back meetings get a few minutes between them. Calendar tools offer settings that shorten meetings this way by default.

How do I make Google Calendar meetings 25 minutes by default?

As of September 2026, Google Calendar has a Speedy meetings option under Settings, then Event settings, which shortens new events by 5 or 10 minutes depending on their length. You can also change the default duration there.

Can Outlook end meetings early automatically?

Yes, in Outlook for Microsoft 365 on Windows. Classic Outlook has Shorten appointments and meetings under File, Options, Calendar; new Outlook has Shorten duration for all events under Settings, Calendar, Events and invitations. It does not change meetings already created.

Is a one-hour meeting too long?

Not if its agenda needs an hour, but many one-hour meetings are an hour because that is the default. Write the agenda first and book the time it needs.