Why meetings need ELMO
- Nancy Maher
- 5 days ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Executives now spend nearly 23 hours a week in meetings, up from less than 10 hours in the 1960s. Harvard Business Review
That's a jaw-dropping number, isn't it? It's also exactly why meetings need ELMO.
According to Fellow’s 2024 State of Meetings report, U.S. employees spend at least 20% of their workweek in meetings, with senior executives spending up to 35%.
Yet, day after day, we show up for meetings hoping they'll be impactful, and often leave feeling drained and behind on work. Meeting culture is broken in a lot of organisations.
Throughout my career, I've had my fair share of unproductive meetings.
Okay, there are the obvious unfocused meetings with no agenda, but there are also the unfocused meetings with an agenda. You know, the ones where we barely get through the first item, and the meeting time has run out, so we schedule another meeting.
But meetings don't have to suck, there is another way. We want to let you know why meetings need ELMO.
Contents
Productivity is under attack
80% of the global workforce, employees and leaders alike, say they lack the time or energy to do their work. - Microsoft Work Trend Index 2025
Microsoft's 2025 Work Trend Index found that 53% of leaders say productivity must increase, while the average worker is fielding 275 interruptions a day. 😱
On an average weekday, that same worker:
Receives 117 emails and 153 Teams messages
Is interrupted every 2 minutes by a meeting, message or email
🤔 Reflective question: Are you empowering your people to do their best work, or are you part of the problem?
💡 Tip: Want more numbers to take to your leadership team? Our top 80 workplace culture statistics has plenty.
Meetings reflect your workplace culture
Several big tech companies, including Dropbox, Asana, Shopify, and Zapier, have experimented with a "meeting reset" by removing all internal meetings from their calendars. 🥳
While that’s a bit drastic, it highlights the challenge many of us have trying to shape our meeting culture intentionally versus just going with the status quo.
🤔 Reflective question: Reflect on your workplace meeting culture. How would you describe it?
What's the typical meeting length and types of meetings?
Do you have real meeting-free periods of the day and the week?
Do meetings tend to overrun?
Do they have an agenda?
Are they being facilitated?
💡 Tip: If the honest answer is "too many meetings, badly run", start with 10 inspiring podcasts to fix meeting overload. It is the fastest way I know to get a team talking honestly about their calendar.
Why meetings suck
It shouldn't have been a meeting in the first place
If you are presenting data or slides and there is no room for attendees to exchange perspectives, that is probably not a meeting. Or maybe it should have been a workshop, a highly interactive session. Honestly, I think most meetings would be better as playful workshops.
Meeting length
Ever watched the clock tick past the scheduled end time, knowing you're now late for another meeting? Overrunning is usually a lack of structure and poor facilitation. Or ever had a one-hour meeting land in your calendar when a 10-minute conversation would have done? If your whole week feels like this, our five time management tips are a good place to start.
Rabbit holes
You start with a clear agenda, and suddenly you're diverting off on a tangent. Rabbit holes are real, and once the group tumbles down, getting back is tough.
Talking about the wrong stuff
Some topics get dissected far beyond necessity, stealing valuable minutes from core issues. You leave feeling the critical stuff got smothered by minutiae.
HiPPOs dominating the meeting
No, not those hippos. I mean the HiPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) type. A meeting can end up orbiting whatever the HiPPO says, leaving everyone else feeling they have been handed a mandate rather than an opinion, even when the HiPPO was only thinking out loud.
No action
At the end, what's decided? Who's doing what and when?
These pain points result in frustration, stress, drained energy, lost productivity and missed opportunities to collaborate on the important stuff.
How to make meetings not suck
You don't have to dread meetings! When done well, meetings are both fun and help you get stuff done.
Meetings start to lose efficiency at eight or more attendees, and at large companies 22% of meetings cross that line. Fellow, State of Meetings 2024
Here are the building blocks of meetings people actually want to attend:
Have a meeting culture, and evolve it
Clear ground rules on meeting length, transparency, and shared ownership of outcomes keep people engaged and productive. Think of your meeting culture as something that evolves as your workplace culture does. When teams feel safe, respected, and encouraged to speak up, meetings transform.
Have a facilitator
The best meetings have a facilitator who upholds your meeting culture and enforces it. That means creating psychological safety and making sure all voices are heard, which starts with active listening.
Have an agenda
Make sure you start with the high-priority stuff first and allocate time per agenda item.
Get a parking lot
A "parking lot" is excellent for parking off-topic ideas. That way no one's contribution is ignored, it is just redirected. It can be a virtual or a physical board in the meeting.
Invite the right people (but not everyone)
Only include those whose presence will drive decisions or bring essential expertise. Fewer people, more impact.
Visible decision-making
Clarify who the decision maker is, and make sure there's a plan of action before people leave and make that plan transparent post-meeting.
And now, the golden rule: use ELMO.
Why meetings need ELMO
Who, or what, is ELMO in the meeting context?
ELMO stands for "Enough, Let's Move On". It’s a simple, joyful, and surprisingly powerful meeting facilitation technique that originated in technology teams practising Agile and design thinking.
The principle is straightforward. Whenever discussion wanders, or a point has been hashed out long enough, any participant can call "ELMO", either out loud, by raising a hand, or by waving a sign (or yes, an actual Elmo toy). Everyone sees it and the conversation pivots back to the agenda.
Where did ELMO come from?
Apart from Sesame Street, that is!
First seen in Agile circles, ELMO quickly spread to other collaborative settings like design thinking workshops, or any meeting where focus matters. Its power is that everyone has a voice in keeping the meeting on time and on topic. It is democratic, playful, and easy to adopt.
How ELMO works
Getting specific, ELMO is much more than a cute acronym, it is a cultural lever for effective meetings. Here is what it actually does.
Is democratic
Anyone, regardless of seniority, can call ELMO. You don't have to be the leader or facilitator. No need to ask permission. You can all see that the allocated time has run out, then you're empowered to say or gently throw ELMO.
Enables simple signals
Raise a hand. Hold up an ELMO sign. Type "ELMO!" in a virtual meeting chat. Some teams (like mine) keep a plush Elmo toy on the table; others use digital stickers or physical cards - whatever fits your context.
Encourages respectful meetings
ELMO isn't about shutting people down. It's a gentle nudge that the point has been made, the group is ready, and the agenda deserves respect. Tangents and side-discussions get captured in the Parking Lot for later, so no idea gets lost.
Evens the playing field
ELMO is radical in how it decentralises meeting control. Any person, from intern to CEO, can steer the flow. That has a real effect on psychological safety, especially in hierarchical settings. Suddenly the meeting isn't just about the HiPPO.
Is light-hearted and playful
ELMO brings some levity. The technique is intentionally friendly; meetings don't become cold or confrontational. "Calling ELMO" rarely embarrasses anyone. Instead, it invites a smile, a laugh, and a shift in energy.
Is a must-have in a workshop
For large workshops, ELMO toys or tokens scattered around the room invite proactive engagement. Whoever grabs the nearest ELMO gets the floor to redirect the conversation.
In virtual settings, digital ELMO icons or chat messages work just as well. The playfulness survives the screen.
How to incorporate ELMO into a workshop or meeting
ELMO isn't magic on its own. Here's how I use ELMO, combining best practices gathered from my experiences.
Introduce ELMO upfront
Before the meeting starts, clarify what ELMO means. It's about efficiency and inclusive facilitation, not censorship or judgement. Create space for questions or hesitations ("Does anyone feel uncomfortable with this?").
Role model the practice
I always start by using ELMO myself. Facilitators and leaders have to model the vulnerability, showing that their own ideas are open to timeboxing and redirection like anyone else's. I love to "throw ELMO to the HiPPO", gently inviting the highest-paid person in the room to model humility and follow the ELMO call.
Blend with other tools
My toolkit always includes the Parking Lot technique for off-topic gems, and a timer to keep things moving. ELMO works brilliantly with both; if someone simply must keep talking after ELMO has been called, they can park their point and come back to it later.
Photo competitions
Make it fun. At workshops I run ELMO photo competitions at the end (take the funniest picture of you and ELMO). A little play goes a long way in group settings, and it is the same principle behind good team culture workshop design.
Multiple ELMOs
For in-person workshops with groups of about 20 or more, I use 2-3 ELMO toys dotted around the room. This keeps engagement high and invites more people to participate.
Clingy ELMO moments
Sometimes people don't want to let go of ELMO, they're desperate to squeeze in a few more thoughts. We gently retrieve the toy (sometimes after a little negotiation) to keep things light-hearted but clear. ELMO is here for everyone's benefit.
HiPPO engagement
Getting the highest-paid person to use ELMO, or to accept an ELMO intervention, is transformational. When the HiPPO honours ELMO, the culture shifts and everyone feels empowered to use their voice. If that feels out of reach where you work, start with how to challenge senior leaders effectively.
Follow up
At the end of the meeting, recap any Parking Lot items, and check whether topics need another discussion or can be handled another time. This ensures ideas aren't lost.
ELMO and me
If you've ever been in a workshop facilitated by me, you've probably met ELMO.
I walk in with a timer, a few ELMOs, and clear ground rules.
Here's the deal: ELMO means Enough, Let's Move On. If someone calls ELMO, we shift gears. Any burning insights go into the Parking Lot for another meeting. And at the end, you can win an ELMO. We'll vote on the best ELMO and me photo.
I scatter two or three ELMOs around the room. People are curious, cautious, then bold. The first few times I usually call it myself, or toss the doll to a senior leader, the HiPPO. If the leader shows vulnerability, everyone else feels free to try.
I also use a PHYSICAL timer. If the discussion goes off track, ELMO appears. Conversation resumes focus, but nobody feels dismissed. And the Parking Lot? Pure gold for capturing valuable tangents.
Sometimes participants cling to ELMO for dear life, a last effort to share their view. We gently retrieve it, celebrate their passion, and move on. Soon ELMO is part of the team's DNA.
To sum up
Meetings don't have to suck. With a bit of intentional meeting culture, structure, and playfulness, embodied by ELMO, any team can be productive and have fun, with a touch of Sesame Street whimsy.
Try ELMO at your next meeting. Your calendar and your colleagues will thank you.
References
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