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The tool · meetings

Meeting one-pager

When
Who fills it in
Then
Meeting
Date
Called by
1

Before you send the invitation

if you cannot fill this in, cancelling is quicker
The question we are answeringa question, not a topic
Could I decide this alone?if yes, do that and tell people
Who actually answers iteveryone else gets the outcome instead
Who decidessay this out loud at the start
What people should read firststatus goes in writing, before
2

What it produced

written during the meeting, not after
The decisionin the words you both used
Owner and by whena person and a date
People attending
Minutes each time
Times a year
This meeting costs322hours a year

The three kinds of meeting · only one needs everybody in a room

To decide something. The only kind that genuinely benefits from being live, and it needs the fewest people.

To make something together. Needs the people who will do the work, not those who want visibility.

To tell people something. The majority of recurring meetings, and it should almost always be written.

Trouble comes from all three at once. Forty minutes of status leaves twenty for the decision.

Ending a sixty minute meeting at thirty-five should be normal rather than a triumph. Give the time back instead of filling it. Audit the recurring ones once a year: list each with attendees, length and what it produces, then cancel anything nobody can name an output for. If somebody objects afterwards, reinstate it, which is a better test than any discussion.

The cost box multiplies attendees by length by frequency, so a weekly hour for seven people shows as roughly 322 hours a year. Change the numbers to price your own. Saves in this browser only.

Prefer paper? Download the blank sheet as a PDF. The thinking behind it is in The Meeting.

General guidance from practice, not legal, HR, or financial advice. Everything you type stays in this browser and is never sent to a server; clearing site data removes it.