You go to book a working session and there is nowhere to put it. Everyone's week is already spoken for, and not by meetings; by blocks. No project name, no agenda, just held time.
Nobody told you meetings were a problem. But this is how they are letting you know.
A 2025 Owl Labs study found that 35% of workers do this deliberately; they "book or block off chunks of time in [their] calendar specifically to prevent clients or colleagues from taking over [their] time" (Owl Labs). Among millennials it climbs to 61% (Korn Ferry).
Look closer at your own team first.
Is communication breaking down?
Is work happening in silos?
Are people quietly avoiding your meetings?
If the answer is yes, the calendar block is not a productivity hack; it is a review of how you run time together. Jenna Young, head of client creative in the Culture, Change and Communications practice at Korn Ferry, put the fix plainly: "If more meetings had tight agendas, clear outcomes, and participation for all involved, you'd have better attendance" (Korn Ferry).
People are not avoiding each other. They are avoiding meetings that go nowhere.
Structured collaboration can help
You can apply workshop design principles to create more productive time among team members, and it does not mean planning a full scale workshop. You can apply the same principles by being just a bit more intentional about how you plan and run your meetings.
Identify the desired outcomes. What has to exist at the end that does not exist now?
Plan a semi-structured session to generate those outcomes. Enough structure to move, enough room to think.
Prepare materials. Whatever people need in front of them to work, not to watch.
Invite the right people. The ones doing the work, not the ones who want visibility.
Timebox, and leave when the work is done. Meetings expand to fill the hour they were given. If the work is finished in twenty minutes, end the meeting at twenty minutes.
Building a collaborative culture
Better meetings solve the immediate problem of time protection. Recurring collaboration solves the silo problem.
You can encourage cross-functional work by scheduling recurring collaboration sessions:
Book a recurring time for collaborative work. Same slot, protected.
Have team members propose a topic or issue they need to work on with their peers.
Make that person the "client" for the session. It is their problem, their session, their call on what help looks like.
Have the team work together to move the problem forward.
It does not have to get resolved. If it moves somewhat toward resolution, you reinforce the idea that team members can lean on one another for their varied skills and perspectives.
Run these sessions well and you get the thing Young is describing: people show up, and they participate. Better meetings earn better attendance; the blocks loosen because the time is worth spending.
Bonus: For a fun method to try, check out my Unstuck Meeting framework. It is easy and informal, and it helps foster peer support.
Level up your collaboration
If you’re the one who gets asked to “run a session” and you’re tired of guessing your way through agendas and activities, this half‑day is for you. We’ll walk through a practical framework for designing sessions that do real work, with clear goals, structure, and activities chosen for the outcomes you need. Join me on September 29 or November 24!
Diagnose Why Your Workshops Aren’t Delivering
See if your team is Workshop Capable, Developing, or just Curious about real collaboration with spydergrrl’s free Workshop Diagnostic Tool.
Want to learn more about workshop design coaching, training, and custom workshops?
Visit spydergrrl.com for resources and services tailored to help you create engaging, effective workshops.
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