Building an intentional Meetings Culture with University of Bristol
Sector: Higher Education
Services delivered: Fixing Meetings · The Productivity Ninja’s Meetings Survival Guide · Mastering Microsoft Teams Meetings · Impact Clinic · Culture Consultancy: Diagnostics & Pulse Surveys · Meetings Manifesto Design · Accountability Email Campaigns
The challenge
As the University of Bristol’s Global Engagement Division evolved, so did the complexity of how people worked together.
Like many large organisations, meetings had gradually become a central part of daily working life. Teams valued them as a way to collaborate, stay connected and coordinate work across a large division. But over time, leaders recognised that many meetings had evolved organically rather than by design.
At the same time, the division was navigating organisational change. New structures, responsibilities and ways of working were emerging, creating an opportunity to rethink long-established habits and build a stronger foundation for the future.
The leadership team wanted to improve how meetings were used across the division while maintaining the connection and collaboration that people valued. The goal wasn’t simply to reduce meetings. It was to create more purposeful meetings, make better use of people’s time and attention, and create more space for meaningful work.
Our approach
Instead of treating meetings as an isolated training issue, we co-designed a meetings culture programme that combined leadership engagement, practical skills development, behavioural reinforcement and ongoing measurement.
The programme included:
- Fixing Meetings workshops for leaders and key stakeholders
- Meetings skills sessions for the wider division
- Mastering Microsoft Teams Meetings workshops to strengthen hybrid meeting practices
- Impact Clinics to review progress, tackle barriers and sustain momentum
- Pulse surveys and diagnostics to measure confidence, behaviours and change over time
- A division-wide accountability email campaign to reinforce key behaviours between sessions
- Design and launch support for a co-created Meetings Manifesto
- Each element was designed to build on the others, ensuring that meetings culture was addressed not only through learning, but through shared expectations, practical tools and ongoing reinforcement.
Creating a shared standard for how meetings work
One of the programme’s most important outcomes was the creation of a Meetings Manifesto.
Rather than introducing a set of externally-created rules, the manifesto was developed from ideas generated and prioritised by the division’s own leaders and stakeholders.
Throughout the programme, a clear set of principles consistently emerged:
-Every meeting should have a clear purpose.
-Time should be used intentionally, with shorter meetings considered where appropriate.
-Attendees should be invited with a clear understanding of the role they are playing.
-Success should be measured by decisions and actions, not attendance alone.
These principles were brought together into a shared manifesto that reflects the division’s own thinking about effective collaboration.
Importantly, the manifesto is not about holding fewer conversations. It is about helping people have better conversations, with greater clarity, purpose and accountability.
By creating a shared language and set of expectations, the manifesto provides a practical foundation for sustaining change beyond individual workshops or leaders.
Supporting change during organisational transformation
The programme has taken place alongside a wider organisational restructure, making its timing particularly valuable.
Periods of change naturally prompt people to reconsider existing ways of working. The division has used this opportunity to establish clearer expectations around meetings and collaboration as new teams and working relationships emerge.
Rather than viewing meetings as a standalone improvement initiative, leaders have positioned the work as part of a broader conversation about how the division wants to work together in the future.
This has helped create ownership across the organisation and increased the likelihood that new behaviours will become embedded over time.
What leaders said
Andrew Monk, Executive Director of Global Engagement, University of Bristol
“”It’s just really good to actually take some time out. We talk about being absolutely chock-a-block with meetings, and you never actually talk about the concept of a meeting, you just talk about the content in a meeting. So to have that breathing space to actually think about what we actually want to get out of it, how we want it to feel to work, how much of our time is spent in that way, and being more deliberate about that, that’s the conversation that we were able to have today.”
On the role meetings play across a dispersed division:
“People want to feel connected. We’re a division that is very dispersed, people spend a lot of time out of the office, across the UK and other international territories, and meetings are a way of feeling connected back to your home team. It’s making sure you’re deliberate about the connection, but specific about the purpose of a meeting.”
Sandra Jackson, Director of Strategy and Operations, University of Bristol
“It’s been really helpful. It’s really interesting to think about meetings from a different angle and a different perspective, and have some space to consider how you’re using them, rather than just racing through them in a day-to-day busy workload.”
On the challenge the division wanted to address:
“It’s a combination of overload and lack of structure in specific meetings, not being entirely clear about why people are in the room, or what we’re trying to achieve.”
On the potential impact of change:
“Space to feel more productive, and feel like there is time to think and to get more done.”
Early indicators of impact
While the programme is still ongoing, early feedback suggests that the work is already influencing behaviours and attitudes across the division.
Participants have described becoming more intentional about:
- scheduling meetings
- accepting invitations
- setting clear agendas
- reducing unnecessary meeting time
- using digital tools more effectively
- creating greater clarity around actions and accountability
Feedback scores have been consistently strong across the programme, with participants highlighting the practical and immediately applicable nature of the learning.
Leaders have also reported increased confidence in their ability to influence meetings culture, both as meeting organisers and participants.
Perhaps most significantly, discussions during follow-up sessions suggest that the programme is increasingly being viewed not as a training initiative, but as part of how the division wants to work together going forward.
Looking ahead
The University of Bristol’s Global Engagement Division continues to embed the manifesto and associated behaviours across its teams and working groups.
Future pulse surveys will help assess which changes have become established and where further support may be needed.
As with any culture change initiative, success will ultimately be measured not by what happened during the programme itself, but by whether new habits become part of everyday work.
The foundations are now in place for a more intentional meetings culture, one that supports collaboration, makes better use of people’s time, and creates more space for work that matters.
Thinking about your own meetings culture?
Many organisations don’t have a meetings problem. They have a clarity, attention and collaboration problem that shows up in meetings.
If you’re looking to create more purposeful meetings, stronger team habits and more space for meaningful work, we’d love to help.