Fredrik Bauer
– Meeting efficiency expert and founder of the SURFE framework
It was a status update meeting. 90 minutes. Fredrik Bauer sat in the room and started doing the math
Fifty people. Hourly rates. Cost per minute. The number was staggering – and nothing that happened during those 90 minutes was new to anyone in the room. Fredrik had read it all in an email. He was involved in the projects. He was engaged.
And yet he sat there feeling frustrated, restless, and completely disengaged.
It wasn't the first time. But it was the last.
Meetings have always been the common thread
Fredrik has always worked with meetings – he just didn't realize it until much later.
It started with scouting. Not as a hobby, but as a philosophy. Learning by doing. Build on people's strengths. Solve problems as a group. His values were shaped early by a movement that understands something most organizations forget: real things happen when people actually engage with each other. He has never stopped calling himself a scout.
With a master's degree focused on the experience economy and a thesis on conference tourism, Fredrik joined the innovative consultant company Kairos Future as a junior consultant. That's where he first experienced the art of facilitating truly creative meetings – sessions that generated something new instead of just communicating what already existed.
Next came The Guides and Scouts of Sweden. Fredrik was tasked with facilitating the development of a national youth programme – a process involving hundreds of volunteers, countless workshops, and ultimately five published books. It required meetings that actually worked.
Then came a role managing educational conferences. And the same nagging feeling returned. Everyone said they wanted to network, exchange ideas, and learn from each other. Yet every programme ended up filled with experts talking from a stage. Because that's what sold.
Fredrik has known for a long time that there is a much better way.
The meeting that changed everything
When Fredrik sat through that status meeting, he had already co-authored a book on meeting effectiveness (Mötesräddaren). He had received exceptional feedback every time he led meetings, workshops, and conferences. Participants were active. Decisions were made. Meetings ended on time.
The realization hit hard: he already knew everything he needed to know. He understood what creates energy in a room and what drains it. He knew why meetings fail and how to make them work.
It was time to make it his mission.
Fredrik left his job and started his own company. Since then, he has conducted original research with more than 1,000 project managers, executives, and meeting facilitators. He has written a second book – Världens bästa möten (The World's Best Meetings) – trained and consulted organizations across both the public and private sectors, and developed the SURFE framework for effective meetings.
When everything went digital – and the fundamentals held
Before 2020, Fredrik had worked entirely in person – in conference venues, on stages, in meeting rooms. Then the pandemic hit and everything changed overnight.
Fredrik adapted quickly. He facilitated digital conferences and events – from home and from studio. At the same time, he trained project managers and teams to meet effectively online. During that period, he fielded questions from hundreds of people about how virtual meetings should actually work.
The answer turned out to be unexpectedly simple: the fundamentals are the same. Structure, the right people, clear focus, and a concrete outcome work just as well in a physical conference room as in a video call or hybrid setup. It's not the format that determines whether a meeting succeeds – it's how it's led.
SURFE – built on research, tested in the real world
SURFE is built on how meetings actually work – or don't. The framework draws on Fredrik's own research – combined with established theory in group dynamics, decision-making, and meeting psychology.
It's research made practical – five principles that address the most common problems project managers and organizational developers face every day.
Structure. Updated. Right people. Focus. Effect.
Practical enough to use immediately. Solid enough to last.
Curious about the world, grounded in his work
Fredrik grew up in Sweden but has always looked outward. He has lived and worked in several countries – including Spain, Australia, and currently São Paulo, Brazil, where he lives with his family. That gives him a perspective that shows in how he works: a genuine curiosity about differences and a deep fascination with what happens when people from different backgrounds have to make decisions together.
He works primarily with clients in Sweden and runs everything digitally – geography is never a barrier and his door is always open.
Outside work, you'll find him in the forest – hiking, cycling, skiing (when there's snow). He's a father of two and invests a lot of time in challenging and supporting his kids. Curious, impatient, precise, and highly perceptive – he sees possibilities instead of problems and has found the niche where he makes the most difference.
Ready for fewer, shorter, and more decisive meetings?
Fredrik works with project managers and organizational developers who are ready to do something about it. He provides concrete tools built on research and tested in practice – ready to use from day one.
Reach out and find the right next step for you – fredrik@fredrikbauer.com