Do you ever feel like you’re spending way too much time meeting with your team, potential clients or investors — time that you cannot get back and easily could have used to finalize an important project or even just spent with your loved ones? Do you walk away from meetings and know that exactly nothing got accomplished and there’s even more confusion than before?

Indeed, meetings are a necessary component of doing business today. Yet, often, they have no tangible outcome, take up a lot of time and are hard to organize. Essentially, meetings are big time wasters that interrupt productivity and workflow.

Being an entrepreneur or CEO often comes with the challenge of having too little time on hand and trying to make the most out of each and every minute. There’s no room to lose time and energy to unproductive activities, which ultimately affects the bottom line. Therefore, restructuring the way you run meetings will have a big impact not only on the time spent but also on the outcomes related to them. Smart leaders run successful and efficient meetings by using a clear framework and optimizing their behavior, so every party involved walks away with an actionable plan and clarity on what steps to take next.

Here are seven steps to making the most out of your meetings so you can stop wasting your time once and for all:

1. Start off strong.

This important part is often overlooked. In order to maximize engagement and effortlessness and to set the tone for the upcoming time, it’s incredibly beneficial to spread positivity and build rapport with the other person or entire group. Use small talk intentionally to raise overall energy and set yourself up for success. Avoid jumping into the seriousness of the matter right away and discuss a current win or accomplishment of the company or individual instead. Use positivity and a feel-good state to your advantage and get creative on topics that excite the attendees.

2. Set a clear intention.

Before getting into details, discussions and brainstorming, make sure to get crystal clear on your desired outcome and the purpose of the meeting. Share the agenda with everyone involved to speed up the process and avoid distractions. Additionally, propose a clear outline of the amount of time you’re planning to spend on each topic. Don’t forget to incorporate enough space for questions at the end. Being transparent about designating only a limited amount of time to each subject allows you to stay accountable to your intention and communicate the importance of focus.