Meetings

Meetings are essential for brainstorming and group decision-making, but they often become unproductive Time sinks. Creating an exceptional meeting Culture requires intentionality and clear practices.

Common Meeting Problems

• Too many meetings with unclear value lead to productivity loss
• Meetings tend to be slow and unproductive without proper structure
• Large meetings make active participation difficult for most attendees
• People attend due to FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) rather than genuine need

Host Best Practices

• Meetings should be as short, focused, and small as possible.
• Include detailed agenda with time estimates for each item
• Schedule meetings ending at :50 to allow breaks between meetings
• The host is typically the moderator, unless otherwise determined.
• Nominate a note-taker prior to the start of the meeting.
• Share a draft agenda prior to the meeting (with consideration for time zones)
• Review the agenda at the top of the meeting, asking for other items and the order.
• During the meeting, collect to-do’s, blockers/asks, and DRIs.
• Take clear minutes documenting all decisions made
• End meetings on time to respect everyone’s schedule
• You can add feedback as an agenda item, and ask the participants to take a few minutes to jot down feedback for the next meeting.
• When asking for a meeting, send a message with:
  1. Purpose. State reason for meeting. Include necessary information, links, context, …
  2. Duration. State restrictions (i.e. “at least 30 min”, “at most 50min”).
  3. Date. State restrictions (i.e. “must happen before Aug 8.”)
  4. Suggestions. Pick three reasonable choices given restrictions and suggest them up front.

Attendee Best Practices

• Only attend meetings if genuinely interested and can contribute
• Prepare in advance by reviewing agenda and related materials
• Actively participate in discussions rather than passively listening
• Decline meetings when appropriate - it’s better than attending without engagement
• Read meeting minutes if not attending to stay informed

Update Meetings

• Progress: what did I accomplish this week?
• Plans: What tasks am I doing next week?
• Problems: what is blocking progress?
• Other: what else should the team know?

Decision Meetings

• Progress on achieving current quarterly objectives.
• How the product is being received in the market.
• How the most important customers are succeeding (or not) using the product.
• How the team is performing and any people changes needed.
• Financial position of the company and review of metrics.

Meeting Culture Recommendations

• Prioritize written Communication for knowledge sharing over meetings
• Make it culturally acceptable to enter/leave meetings strategically
• Create a culture where declining meetings without guilt is normal
• Focus on creating intentional, purposeful meetings rather than habitual ones
• “The goal of an exceptional meeting culture is to allow for people to constructively decline meetings by fully understanding the consequences of their action”