Six questions for every recurring meeting
- What outcome does it own?Name a decision, dependency, or deliverable. “Weekly sync” is a cadence, not an outcome.
- What happens if it is skipped?A useful meeting prevents a specific delay, risk, or misunderstanding. If nothing changes, the cadence may be habitual.
- Who must be live?Separate people who decide or contribute from people who only need the written outcome.
- What belongs in a pre-read?Status, background, and routine updates usually do not need to consume the whole room.
- How many team-hours does it use?Participants x duration in hours x meetings per month. Use the number as a comparison, not a verdict.
- When will it be reviewed again?Give the series an explicit review date and a condition that ends it.
Choose one change, then measure it
Keep
Live debate or coordination materially improves the outcome.
Shorten
The same outcome fits a tighter agenda and time box.
Shrink
Only decision-makers and active contributors attend live.
Replace
A structured async update can produce the same result.
Run a clean experiment.
Change one variable - duration, attendance, cadence, or format - and review the result after two cycles. That makes the tradeoff easier to interpret.