Stop Wasting Time in Online Meetings with This Unfair Kanban Trick 

Many people, a lot of questions, too little structure. It used to drain my energy – until I found a better way. 

As Chief of Product at Teamhood, I run meetings where uncertainty is high, the attendee count is large, and questions fly fast. These sessions take a real toll. And the options aren’t great – either go for long hours at low intensity or run short, high-intensity sessions that burn people out quickly. 

Luckily, I found, tested, and now rely on a simple practice that’s helped me tackle this challenge – and I want to share it with you. 

So why am I writing about this? 

First of all, I’m heavily driven by Lean thinking. It bothers me when I see multiple people wasting time in meetings. Sure, it’s fine to joke and chat for a while – but once we get serious, it’s not okay to derail discussions, leave things unresolved, or throw out unfiltered comments that sidetrack everyone. 

What Are We Solving Here? 

Before jumping into the solution, let’s clarify what we’re trying to avoid. Here’s a quick checklist: 

• Creating a stress-free environment where people can present, give feedback, and share opinions openly. 
• Reducing interruptions during presentations. It’s natural to want to ask questions quickly – we’re often afraid we’ll forget them – but it breaks the flow. 
• Avoiding repetitive questions and discussions. 
• Ensuring the full scope of the topic (and related questions) is visible. 
• Eliminating the need to respond to concerns that didn’t require a meeting in the first place. 
• Preventing meetings from getting derailed when too many threads emerge at once. 

These issues can seriously drain participants’ energy and reduce productivity. The more people in the meeting, the more you stand to gain by solving them. And in some teams, this kind of inefficiency happens daily. In most – at least weekly. 

How I’m Solving It with Kanban 

My solution is simple, visual, and – thanks to Kanban – very effective. Maybe that’s why it works so well. It has five key components, and I don’t recommend skipping any: 

1. Have a dedicated Kanban board for each meeting with a predefined structure. 
2. When sending the meeting invite, include the meeting context and a link to the board, so people can prepare in advance. 
3. During the meeting, ask participants to write their questions and comments on the board instead of interrupting verbally. 
4. Make sure everyone understands the board’s structure and how to use it – define policies for where to place what. 
5. Once the initial presentation is done, go through the captured questions and comments. Group them, sort them, or, if needed, reject them immediately. 

What Benefits Did this Bring? 

Before jumping into examples, here’s what our team has gained from this practice: 

• People can capture thoughts while listening, without fear of interrupting or forgetting. 
• Everyone sees others’ questions and comments, which broadens understanding and cuts down repetition. 
• Writing questions encourages more thoughtful input. 
• I can review questions even before the meeting begins, since people often start writing as soon as they read the invite. That lets me prep better — and sometimes, answer things upfront. 
• No more rushed “group asking.” We all try to follow etiquette, but let’s face it – sometimes we slip. 
• As the meeting organizer, I feel way less stress. 

Enough, Show Me the Examples! 

What you see below is a Teamhood Kanban board from a recent product discussion.

I use the same board for every session, just with a new swimlane for each meeting. It’s become a register of valuable knowledge. 

I share the board link with all participants ahead of time, along with a short but clear briefing in the description. I encourage them to start asking questions early – directly on the board. 

At the start of each meeting, I remind everyone of the board and walk through the meeting structure. If we’re solving a problem, I begin with context and supporting evidence. While I’m presenting, participants are already typing their input into the board. 

Board Structure in Action 

This board is specifically used for product refinement, so its structure is tailored: 

• Bad smell: If someone feels there’s a problem with the framing or facts, they note it here. 
• Open questions: Generic or uncategorized questions go here. 
• Missing info: Anything important that’s been overlooked gets added here. 

Once I finish presenting, I share the board view and go through each card – either commenting, opening discussion, or taking action. Sometimes, follow-ups become tasks that get assigned to me or other participants directly from the board. 

Final Word 

That’s it. Simple, easy, and packed with value. Sure, there are AI-powered note-takers and meeting summarizers out there – maybe you can even integrate one with your Kanban tool. But they still rely on people talking everything out. And for larger meetings, that might not be the most efficient way to run the show.