There are only TWO types of meetings worth having!

Bad meetings can kill your company. They waste people’s time, bring down morale and create frustration and poor team dynamics. Keeping your meetings essential and productive is key to success in a startup environment.

Having worked in startups for the past ten years, usually with remote teams, I have found that there are really only two types of meetings worth having. Furthermore, knowing what kind of meeting you want to have, and respecting the rules of that type of meeting are key to make them productive:

1/ The Brainstorming Meeting

Goal: To generate ideas and cover the broader range of an idea.

Output: A lot of ideas.

The Rules:

• Be VERY open to new ideas
• No judgment, full stop.
• Have an agenda, but prepare for it to be demolished
• Allow everyone to participate equally
• No decisions are to be made

2/ The Collaborative Decision Meeting

Goal: To make decisions and generate a plan

Output: Decisions or plans

The Rules:

• Begin with a precise scope
• Have a very detailed agenda and treat it as scripture
• Plan for someone to lead the meeting
• Ensure that everyone taking part is VERY prepared

For both of these meeting types, it’s critical to state their goals clearly, and to make sure everyone involved is on the same page. Lack of communication will kill both types of meetings, and will waste everybody’s time.

Does your meeting not fit into either of these structures? Make it fit, or don’t do it. If you absolutely must have a meeting that doesn’t fit these models, make sure you keep it to a strict 10-minute maximum!

What about you? What have you learned about meetings from your company?