02/16/2023

How Shopify Culled 320,000 Hours of Meetings

The e-commerce firm canceled all recurring meetings with more than two people

Our story last month on Shopify’s plan to purge meetings from employees’ calendars resonated with many readers, who find themselves in wall-to-wall Zoom calls most days with little time for focused work or catchups with colleagues. The e-commerce company said it would end all recurring meetings with more than two people, reup a “no-meeting Wednesday” policy, and limit big (50+) meetings to one six-hour window on Thursdays.

I wanted to see how it’s going, so I grabbed lunch last week with Tia Silas, Shopify’s human-resources chief, who joined the company last year after stints at Wells Fargo, IBM and Pitney Bowes.

Over popovers at Sarabeth’s, we discussed the meeting cull, some new workforce programs they’re testing and why she doesn’t believe in traditional office work. (Responses have been condensed and edited.)

Please select this link to read the complete article from Bloomberg.