Here are 5 hacks for shaving down your company's meeting time, from a startup that whittled theirs down to just 4 hours a week

Sometimes, you simply have to relay complex or sensitive information verbally. But when every verbal exchange becomes a scheduled meeting, you're at risk for quickly surpassing the allotted four hours per week.

Lennon suggests making a video when you have something short to share that you would otherwise say in a meeting. This way, you say what you need to aloud, but the people receiving the information can absorb and respond to it at their own pace. Lennon points out that this strategy is particularly helpful when trying to meet with employees across different offices and time zones.

The solution: "If you think the discussion will be less than fifteen minutes, just make a quick video instead."

Managers often attend meetings where they are not vitally needed just to stay in the loop.

"It's not that you're a necessary presenter; you're just worried that you might miss an important detail," Lennon writes.

To ameliorate this concern, and to stop wasting time in an endless block of meetings, Lennon suggests enacting a plan for someone in attendance to always write "excellent, high-level meeting notes consistently delivered" to the manager and stored in a centralized, digital location.

The solution: "Skip the meeting, and ask for notes instead."

A "stand-up" is a short meeting — so short that you take it standing. Lennon points out that anyone remote tuning in virtually inadvertently turns a stand-up into a sit-down, perhaps to accommodate for a video-conference or phone call. So, keep those meetings standing so they stay short, even if remote workers are tuning in.

The solution: "The point of calling it a stand-up is that you get tired if it goes on too long. So stay standing."

"By not blocking off an arbitrary thirty minutes, the discussion gets done in exactly the time required," Lennon writes. He recommends simply setting up meetings as-needed, for only the amount of time you need.

The solution: "By encouraging everyone to work in a more ad hoc manner, meeting times are compressed to the minimum time required."