This article is based on a presentation by Volha Zuyeva, a Senior Business Analyst at LeverX. The speech was originally delivered during Analyst Day, an internal LeverX meetup where business analysts share their experiences, best practices, and lessons learned.

Work Meetings Can Achieve Real Results. Here’s How

The efficiency of work meetings is something every Business Analyst faces daily but few take time to rethink. 

As Volha put it, “One of the most precious things we have is time. We should value our time and the time of our co-workers in all our work activities, including meetings.”

The concept of Meeting Efficiency goes beyond the usual advice on shorter calls or better agendas. It’s about treating communication itself as a system that needs optimization — because, as analysts, we live in the middle of it.

Why Meeting Efficiency Matters for Business Analysts

For business analysts, meetings are the primary medium for gathering requirements, aligning stakeholders, resolving conflicts, and moving projects forward. Yet, ironically, meetings often become the very obstacle that slows progress.

We all know the feeling: the day filled with back-to-back calls, where each ends with “let’s discuss this again next week.” The information gets fragmented, decisions postponed, and everyone leaves drained rather than informed.

Volha says, “This is a symptom of living in the digital era, where we are all short of time and work in the conditions of information overload.” 

When every task depends on collaboration, communication becomes the most critical productivity factor. For analysts, this means something very specific: the way we design and conduct meetings is a reflection of how we respect other people’s cognitive energy. 

An efficient meeting isn’t one that’s short — it’s one that moves the team forward without wasting anyone’s focus.

The Pandemic of Meeting Fatigue

There exist three real, documented effects of overcommunication and underthinking: meeting fatigue, Zoom fatigue, and meeting recovery syndrome.

Meeting Fatigue

This is the mental exhaustion from attending too many meetings, especially ones that feel unproductive, inefficient, or unnecessary. Even if each call is short, the cumulative effect is overwhelming. Every time you switch context from one discussion to another, your brain spends energy to reorient.

Zoom Fatigue

It’s not just about screen time. 

“Constantly staring at faces on screen is unnatural and intense,” Volha explains.

The brain works harder to interpret tone, facial expressions, and nonverbal cues through a screen. Multiply that by hours of virtual contact, and the result is cognitive overload.

Meeting Recovery Syndrome

This term captures something we all intuitively know: the time lost after a bad meeting. You close the call but can’t immediately return to deep work. You replay what was said, or what wasn’t. The mind needs time to recover, sometimes minutes, sometimes hours.

When you think about it, inefficient meetings are a big tax on mental health and productivity.

Decision Fatigue: The Hidden Cost of Bad Meetings

Volha connects meeting inefficiency to another cognitive trap — decision fatigue.

“As the day progresses, people’s energy and attention wane steadily,” she explains. “By late afternoon and evening, it’s harder to make good decisions.”

Decision fatigue happens when our brain’s “battery” runs low after too many choices, judgments, and micro-decisions. In the BA world, that means approving user stories, prioritizing backlog items, or aligning change requests, all of which require fresh, analytical thinking.

When every meeting ends with half-decisions and follow-up calls, we multiply the number of choices instead of reducing them. Each open thread drains a bit more mental energy.

The takeaway: meeting quality directly influences decision quality. If we want better business analysis outcomes, we must design our communication to reduce cognitive friction, not add to it.

When Meetings Go Bad

Volha’s presentation includes a list of what she calls “meeting monsters” — patterns that make even well-intentioned sessions go wrong.

Sound familiar? For most analysts, this is everyday reality. Volha doesn’t blame people for being unprepared. 

“They are overextended and time poor,” she says, “and do not know what to do about that.”

The key? Build a structure that makes preparation and focus the path of least resistance.

Purpose and Preparation: The Cornerstones of Efficient Meetings

An efficient meeting starts long before it begins. 

Volha insists: “Never walk into a meeting empty-handed.”

She recommends spending about an hour preparing for most meetings: clarifying goals, planning the structure, and anticipating questions. That hour can save ten times more in wasted collective time.

Here are some of her practical recommendations:

• Define the purpose using an action verb. If you can’t phrase it as an action (e.g., decide, align, review, plan) then it probably doesn’t need to be a meeting. A memo or Slack message might do.
• Invite the fewest people possible. Five to eight participants is the optimal range. Everyone should contribute; no spectators.
• Plan for human energy. Hold meetings in the morning when people are alert and creative.

Before every meeting, ask yourself:

• What do we want to happen as a result?
• What do participants need to know or prepare in advance?
• How much time is truly required to reach the objective?

A meeting with a clear outcome and realistic scope is half-won before it starts.

Deep Work vs. Meetings: Finding the Balance

Business analysts thrive on collaboration, but they also need deep, uninterrupted time to think, model, and write. Volha brings up the concept of Deep Work, popularized by Cal Newport: focused, cognitively demanding work that produces high value.

“Meetings are essential for collaboration,” she says, “but they often interrupt flow and fragment attention.”

The solution is balance, not elimination:

• Time-block deep work. Schedule 60–90 minute focus blocks during your peak energy hours.
• Batch meetings. Cluster them into specific windows like afternoons or back-to-back slots to minimize context switching.
• Use asynchronous tools. Shared docs, recorded updates, and collaboration boards can replace many recurring meetings.
• Protect your calendar. Treat deep work like a meeting with yourself — it’s just as important.

When a team collectively values deep work, meeting efficiency naturally follows. People become more mindful of what truly deserves synchronous discussion.

The Art of Great Questions

The Meetings Efficiency Concept also incorporates the mastery and talent of asking the efficient questions. Volha cites the great book she has encountered, Questions That Sell by Paul Cherry.

“Questions,” she says, “are the most efficient and effective tool at our disposal for acquiring knowledge. The best questions create new knowledge.”

Volha recommends reading this insightful book with an array of invaluable information and the paradigm of great questions. 

If you're in sales and tired of surface-level conversations that go nowhere, Questions That Sell is your game-changer. Paul Cherry delivers a masterclass in strategic questioning, showing how the right questions can uncover customer needs, build trust, and close deals faster. With real-world examples and practical tools, Cherry teaches you how to ask “truth-seeking missiles” that spark genuine dialogue and differentiate you from the competition.

The Subtle Power of Asking “Why”

Volha reminds analysts that “why” is one of the most powerful words, but also one of the most dangerous.

“Asked the wrong way,” she warns, “it can sound confrontational.” 

Instead of bluntly asking “Why did you do this?”, try:

• “What was the main driver behind this choice?”
• “Could you walk me through the reasoning behind that approach?”
• “Help me understand the background: what factors led to that decision?”

This softer framing maintains curiosity while preserving psychological safety — something every analyst should cultivate in meetings.

Common Meeting Pitfalls

Even with structure and skillful questioning, meetings can still derail. These are several common issues worth recognizing and addressing early.

Long Small Talk

A bit of small talk helps warm up the room, but fake familiarity or prolonged chit-chat can waste energy. The goal is to balance friendliness with focus. Pivot gently once the tone is warm.

Information Hoarders

Some people hold back valuable data or insights intentionally or subconsciously. Volha divides them into two types:

• Information hoarders withhold documents, access, reports,
• Knowledge hoarders keep expertise or context to themselves.

Their motives can include fear of losing control, job insecurity, or lack of trust. Volha advises a tactful approach: never imply they’re replaceable. Instead of “Is there anyone else I should talk to?”, try “In case you’re out of office, who would be your backup?”

As Karl Wiegers noted in his writings on software requirements, tribal knowledge (information known only to a few) creates major project risks. Good analysts prevent that through structured elicitation, documentation, and knowledge transfer sessions.

Irritation and Emotional Safety

Volha brings up a sensitive but crucial topic: irritation. 

“Feeling latent irritation from a meeting interlocutor can be paralyzing,” she says. It triggers emotional freezing, blocking clear thinking or speech.

In professional culture, respect and psychological safety are non-negotiable. Analysts often serve as moderators in high-stress meetings; recognizing and defusing irritation early protects not only the discussion but the team’s trust.

Post-Meeting Reflection: The Missing Habit

An efficient meeting doesn’t end with “thank you.” It ends with reflection.

Volha encourages analysts to use post-meeting follow-ups as learning tools:

• Capture key outcomes and decisions.
• Note what worked and what didn’t.
• Save templates, discovery questions, and useful phrases for future use.

In her words, “This is how we polish our talent and art of meetings management.”

Every great analyst treats communication like craftsmanship. You improve not by avoiding mistakes, but by learning from them consciously.

Redefining Meeting Culture: A Call to Analysts

“When we know how to lead great meetings, there's less time wasted and less frustration. We have more energy to do the work that matters, realize our full potential, and do great things,” says Volha.

For business analysts, meeting efficiency is a strategic competency beyond soft skills. We are the connectors of people, knowledge, and decisions. The efficiency of those connections defines project outcomes.

The Meeting Efficiency Concept is a reminder that meetings are not interruptions to real work but a part of the system of work. When designed thoughtfully, they generate alignment, trust, and insight.

And perhaps the most profound takeaway from Volha’s talk is this:

“Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.”

If we apply that principle not just to code or requirements, but to how we communicate, we can reclaim our time and give it back to the things that truly matter.