Why it matters: Remember that meetings should add value by providing a sense of progress. Design your meetings to support the working memory of the attendees—people need time afterwards to materialize the discussion, and to make a plan. Preparing for this will improve your meetings.

#Things to consider

  1. Meetings should add value to your life by providing a sense of progress. Problems should get defined, decisions get made, priorities being prioritized, and solutions being built upon with the benefit of multiple perspectives.
  2. Good meetings move information quickly and provide space for unexpected new ideas. Great meetings allow for time after the meeting to materialize the ideas you generated. Leave space after a meeting to write down/plan/ work on the ideas you got.
  3. When you get busy, your calendar is littered with recurring team meetings, also known as standing meetings or check-ins. They are the mosquitoes of meetings.
  4. A regular meeting is an expensive way to solve a vague problem, because meetings cost as much as everyone’s combined paycheck for the allotted time.
  5. A meeting is a tool. Like any other tool, meetings can be well designed or poorly designed, based on how well they achieve intended outcomes while managing constraints.