Meetings that earn their slot

Background

Most meetings aren't bad. They're there out of habit. Somebody set up a weekly catch-up eighteen months ago, the reason has gone, and eight people still turn up and say "no updates from me".

The useful question to ask each time is what this meeting is for. If you can't say in a sentence what will be different afterwards, you've found one to drop, shorten or turn into a message.

This guide gives you a quick test, a structure for the ones that stay, and where to look for the write-up side.

Setup

Does this need to be a meeting?

Ask three things:

1. Is a decision needed, or a real conversation? If information is only going one way, send it in writing.
2. Does it need these people at the same time? If not, a shared document with a deadline for comments often does the job.
3. What will be different afterwards? If the answer is "we'll all know more", write it down instead.

The structure that works

• A purpose line in the invite. "Decide which supplier we go with for X." Not "Supplier discussion".
• An owner. One person who runs it and keeps it on time.
• A short agenda, sent the day before. Items as questions. See the recurring agenda template.
• The right people only. Anyone who'd say "I only needed the last five minutes" can have the notes instead.
• A hard end time. Finishing five minutes early is a good habit, and nobody complains.

How to close one

In the last five minutes, read back the decisions, the actions (each with an owner and a date) and anything parked. Send it round within the hour.

The how-to for that is covered elsewhere on the site. Meeting notes in a fixed shape covers getting an AI to produce them, minutes that read the same whoever took them covers the template, and retro actions need an owner and a date covers why.