Chapter 1. [Too many bad meetings]

Chapter 2. [Compromise and complacency]

Traditional meetings create a culture of compromise

Instead of a meeting structure that demands that we make and defend strong decisions, the broken meeting system we’ve adopted enables us to pass off responsibility too easily.

Traditional meetings kill our sense of urgency

• convenience meetings are called because it’s often difficult to capture everything you want to say quickly and effectively in writing, but these not only waste value “they rely on nonverbal communication that’s hard to refer to later on.”
• formality meetings are called because managers think it is their job to have meetings.
• social meetings are called for the purpose of connection but they can expand to fit the time, and it assumes everyone called has the same goals

What’s not a meeting?

A conversation is a real-time dialogue between two people; it’s not a meeting.

A group work session is exactly what it sounds like; it’s not a meeting. It’s real work done simultaneously with other team members, intra-team and often ad hoc.

Brainstorms are magical sessions specifically designed for generating lots of ideas.

• we’re left, then, with the modern meeting

Chapter 3. The eight principles of modern meetings

1. The modern meeting doesn’t make decisions. Leaders do.

   If you want my input before you make your preliminary decision, you’ll have to get it from me personally.

2. The modern meeting has two primary functions: conflict and coordination

   • for low consequence decisions, a meeting is about coordination: finalizing, buy-in, next steps. You ask if others can live with this decision and how can we move forward effectively?
   • for high-consequence decisions we are less concerned with speed and more concerned with accuracy; to avoid groupthink avoid disclosing your preliminary decision

3. The modern meeting moves fast and ends on schedule

4. The modern meeting limits the number of attendees

   Every member of any meeting should ask him-or herself these questions:

   • Will I be able to function if I read about the meeting after it’s over?
   • If I am giving the decision we’re discussing in advance, can I give my opinion in advance?
   • Do I add any value by sitting in the meeting without participating?
   • Am I attending symbolically, or simply as a way to demonstrate my power?

   If you have no strong opinion, have no interest in the outcome, and are not instrumental for any coordination that needs to take place, we don’t need you. From now on, if you’re invited to a meeting where you don’t belong, please don’t attend.

5. The modern meeting rejects the unprepared

   If someone comes unprepared, cancel the meeting or hold it without him. In exchange for your preparation, we promise you an intense, very short meeting where something actually gets done.

   If someone comes and doesn’t participate, don’t invite her to the next meeting. This is not high school; we strive to be a world-class organization. We can’t tolerate your unpreparedness anymore. Unprepared participants are dead-weight.

   Sometimes the worst offenders are our top executives. They stroll into the meeting room, empty-handed, waiting to be briefed if they were the king. But they’re not. In the Modern Meeting, the decision is king. All hail the king.

6. The modern meeting produces committed action plans

   an action plan should include: what actions are we committed to, who was responsible for each action, and when will those actions be completed?

7. The modern meeting refuses to be informational. Reading memos is mandatory

   Of course, all have to agree on a pact: We’ll cancel the informational meetings, but you must commit to reading the memos. We all have to treat this agreement very seriously. If we don’t read the memo, the pact is broken, and the informational meeting is inevitable. It takes only a few individuals to falter for the entire system of trust to crumble.

   The Modern Meeting requires that you don’t dribble your thoughts in an endless series of instant messages and emails. No, you have to share your thoughts in coherent, cogent documents. These must be complete thoughts that are actually worth reading and responding to.

8. The modern meeting works only alongside a culture of brainstorming.

   • meeting should be focused on decisions, which comes from the Latin root, decir, to kill off possibilities.

   • but we also have to be dedicated to generating creativity and ideas

   • if you’re going to brainstorm, that’s all you should do using these rules:

     1. Invite those passionate about the idea

     2. Praise liberally

     3. Number the ideas

     4. Use a timer

     5. Have fun

     6. Get active, have people stand up, walk around the room

     7. Have a focus: be free but not a free all

     8. Have a strong facilitator or expert

     9. Don’t invite the boss or the “VP of No”

     10. Write it all down

Chapter 4. You must decide

Chapter 5. The modern meeting standard

Chapter 6. Frequently asked questions about the modern meeting

• What is the essence of the modern meeting?
• How do I get upper management to embrace the modern meeting?
• Our daily status meetings modern meetings?
• How can a leader communicate bad or sensitive news to a large group of people without a traditional meeting?
• What are some organizations that do meetings well?
• So you are telling me that when I have a decision to make, the first step is to reach out to people individually for advice?
• How do I know if a decision is of high, low, or no consequence?
• Are you serious about using a timer for meetings?
• Will instituting the modern meeting reduce our total number of meetings?
• How often should we brainstorm?
• What do we do if more than one person has authority over decision?
• Aren’t impromptu meetings necessary sometimes? What if it’s an emergency?
• Should I structure the meeting time intersections?
• How should I deal with diversions as they arise in our meeting?
• How do I open the meeting?
• What posture should I take as I run the meeting?
• As every decision require a meeting?
• As a make sense for conflict and coordination to occur at the same meeting?
• Are there any exceptions?
• Do I always have to make a decision by myself?
• As a meeting participant, what should I consider as I prepare?
• If everyone is in agreement on a decision, does that mean that no meeting should be held? Do all participants need to stay for the entire meeting?
• How far in advance should I schedule a meeting?
• How do I initiate a meeting?
• What’s the most important thing to remember when inviting someone to a meeting?
• Can you show me a sample agenda?
• What if I end up making a decision that not everyone agrees with?
• How do I decline a meeting that I won’t add value to?
• Can we spread modern meetings to groups outside our organization, like our vendors and our clients?
• What’s the best way to tell people about the modern meeting?