TL;DR
An engineering manager at Google says booking meetings to begin five minutes after the hour or half-hour creates short, reliable breaks between appointments. The practice reduces back-to-back overlap, changes meeting tone, and has spread across the manager’s organization without being mandated.
What happened
An engineering manager at Google describes a routine his teams use: schedule meetings to start at five minutes past the hour (or half-hour). The shift is intended to be more effective than attempting to end meetings five minutes early, because conversations often overrun and immediately conflict with the next appointment. By moving the official start time forward, participants feel social pressure not to let sessions run past the top of the hour, which tends to preserve a brief buffer between events. The manager reports that attendees arrive settled and less rushed when meetings begin at :05, and that people generally respect the adjusted start time rather than arriving late. Though the change formally sacrifices five minutes per meeting in theory, the author argues meetings rarely started exactly on time before the shift, and the approach has been adopted organically across the wider organization despite not being compulsory.
Why it matters
- Creates a short, predictable break between back-to-back meetings, reducing immediate overlap.
- Shifts social norms so meetings are less likely to run past the hour or half-hour.
- Helps participants arrive more settled and less stressed, potentially improving discussion quality.
- Simple, low-cost change that can be implemented without formal policy changes.
Key facts
- Practice: schedule meetings to start at five minutes past the hour or half-hour.
- Origin: described by an engineering manager who works at Google.
- Rationale: considered more reliable than trying to end meetings five minutes early.
- Behavioral mechanism: social pressure discourages letting meetings run past the official end time.
- Perceived effect: attendees arrive settled and tend to respect the :05 start time.
- Trade-off: theoretically loses five minutes per meeting, but meetings rarely began on the dot before the change.
- Adoption: the manager reports the wider organization began using the habit organically, without it being mandatory.
- Source publication date: January 9, 2026.
What to watch next
- Whether other teams or companies adopt the same scheduling habit at scale — not confirmed in the source.
- Whether organizations formalize this approach into official calendar norms or policies — not confirmed in the source.
- Whether measurable improvements in meeting length, punctuality, or productivity are tracked and reported — not confirmed in the source.
Quick glossary
- Social pressure: Informal expectations and norms within a group that influence individuals' behavior to conform.
- Back-to-back meetings: A sequence of meetings scheduled to finish and start without gaps, often leading to time conflicts or rushed transitions.
- Engineering manager: A leadership role that combines technical oversight with people and project management responsibilities.
- Calendar booking: The practice of scheduling events in a shared calendar system, including specifying start and end times.
Reader FAQ
Does this approach lose five minutes in every meeting?
In theory yes, but the author says meetings rarely started exactly on time before the change, so the practical loss is minimal.
Who reported using this habit?
An engineering manager at Google described the practice in a post dated January 9, 2026.
Did the wider organization adopt the practice?
According to the author, the habit spread organically across the organization without being made mandatory.
Does this work for virtual meetings?
The author notes the short transition matters even online and that attendees arrive more settled, indicating it applies to virtual settings.
Start your meetings at 5 minutes past PHILIP O'TOOLEJANUARY 9, 2026UNCATEGORIZED I work as an Engineering Manager at Google, and my teams practice a simple habit – we book all…
Sources
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