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- In a June conversation, Mark Cuban called out the No. 1 time waster in the office.
- Cuban says he will only take meetings and phone calls if there's "no other way."
- Earlier in his career, Cuban would run standing-only meetings to ensure they ended faster.
If you're a believer that most work meetings could be condensed into emails, you're in very wealthy company.
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban called out meetings and phone calls during a June conversation with author Chris Voss on the streaming platform Fireside. Cuban does his best to avoid meetings and phone calls as he believes they hinder the productivity of the workplace.
"I try to only do meetings if I have to come to a conclusion or there's no other way — same with phone calls," Cuban said to Voss. "It kills so much time."
When he does attend meetings, the "Shark Tank" star said, most get bogged down with small talk and take away from talking through the important points of the agenda. His sentiment toward meetings remains unchanged from the early days of his career when he'd run standing-only meetings.
"It's amazing how quickly meetings get over with if no one has a chair or someplace to sit," he said in the interview.
He's not the only exec who thinks meetings are a waste. Earlier this month, Shopify bosses introduced a plug-in for employees that would track the dollar amount spent during a meeting. According to the company's COO, it was an attempt to cut down on meetings so workers could "get shit done."
Now, as an executive, Cuban has more control over his own schedule, and he takes advantage of it. For him, emails are the preferred form of communicating about work.
"I can respond to those in the middle of the night. Or I can respond to those on my schedule as opposed to have to arrange everything around other people," Cuban said.
Despite his success and wealth, Cuban remains dedicated to continuing to work. In an October 2022 interview, the billionaire said retirement isn't for him just yet because "he's too competitive."