A few weeks ago, I needed to get some information quickly from some folks outside of my company.

I offered up a 5-minute call that was really, truly, a 5 minute call. I made the agenda clear as well as the timing.

All calls got scheduled and completed within 48 hours, they each lasted no more than 8 minutes, and even the ones that had to happen at strange hours felt easy.

Note: this is not a post about cold outreach or marketing gimmicks.

Instead, it’s a reminder that we can get a lot done in a very short amount of time, especially where relationships of trust exist.

Grabbing 5 minutes internally with a colleague is such a normal thing—it’s the reason Slack huddles exist.

But doing the same thing with people outside your company—that is rare.

We get caught up in four emails and 30-minute slots and Calendly.

How much more connected could you be if you used tiny windows to have important, focused conversations.

(Oh, and checking in on how someone’s doing, with a call and not a text, counts as “important.”)