Meetings are meant to be productive. With the right structure, they can be.

That said, a Workfront survey conducted by Harris Poll revealed that 59% of office workers believe meetings hinder their work priorities. Similarly, Harvard Business School professor Nancy Koehn stated that U.S. employees collectively attend about 4 billion business meetings each year—and that half the people her team surveyed consider these formal gatherings a waste of time.

We've all been there. An hour-long meeting stretches into the late afternoon and creeps into the evening. Employees disengage after a while, sneaking glances at the clock until the facilitator wraps things up.

But it doesn't have to be this way. I've found that meetings can be productive, inspiring, and even fun. Here are four tips for making the most of important meetings.