The Math Never Lies
When we actually did the numbers, this team of 34 people was spending 92 hours a week in meetings. That’s around 7.5% of their total wage bill.
Most people were only in short meetings here & there.
But the leaders & managers? They were drowning.
Hours & hours every week.
A huge portion of that time was swallowed by one-on-ones.
The Uncomfortable Truth About One-on-Ones
In most organisations, one-on-ones are:
- The longest meetings
- The most frequent meetings
- The least valuable meetings
They feel productive. They feel supportive. They add no value.
One-on-ones usually exist because leaders don’t yet trust the system or the structure enough to let go.
So instead of:
- Clear accountability
- Clear measurables
- Strong L10s
Leaders default to individual check-ins to stay close to the details.
That’s not EOS.
“We don’t have time for L10s or Rocks”
After mapping their meetings, the same complaints came up:
- “We don’t have time for department L10s”
- “We don’t have time to work on our Rocks”
Of course they didn’t.
When leaders spend their weeks in one-on-ones, they become the bottleneck.
Decisions slow. Rocks stall. Accountability blurs.
Jim Collins says the moment you have to micromanage someone, you’ve made a hiring mistake.
Often, it’s not a hiring mistake.
It’s a Get leadership issue.
Not because leaders aren’t capable.
But because they don’t yet fully Get what leadership means inside EOS.
Leadership is not:
- Checking in constantly
- Sitting in everyone’s business
- Being involved in everything
Leadership is:
- Setting clear accountability
- Putting the right measurables in place
- Letting capable people own outcomes
What We’re Changing
We’re stripping the meeting structure back to EOS Pure.
That means:
- No unnecessary one-on-ones
- No shadow meetings
- No “extra” meetings to compensate for a lack of trust
At the same time, we’re putting the right measurables in place so leaders can let go with confidence.
Because accountability without measurables isn’t leadership. It’s anxiety.
The outcome?
Each manager is about to get 7 to 8 hours a week back.
That’s real time.
Time to work on Rocks. Time to think. Time to lead.
EOS works in its purest form.
You don’t need the extra meetings.
Especially the one-on-ones.
