Seth Godin has a great post about getting serious on your Meeting Problem. My favorite suggestion is #1:
Understand that all problems are not the same. So why are your meetings? Does every issue deserve an hour? Why is there a default length?
It’s amazing how many meetings could be productive and completed in 15 or 30 minutes, yet, because of the default length of one hour, the content expands to fill the time allotted. You can see this in action as attendees look up at the clock and make statements such as “…I see we have 15 minutes or so left, what else should we talk about?”. Doh!
I would also add a #10:
Require that the meeting invite (Outlook, etc) be descriptive in the meeting topic and goals. If not, decline the request while asking for that information. When it comes back again with sufficient detail, then accept it.
This approach ensures that you really need to be at each meeting, while showing others that you take your own time seriously.