Ways of Working

Running Effective Meetings

Foundational

Meetings are expensive. Multiply the length by everyone in the room. A bad meeting quietly burns hours that could have been deep work. A good meeting has a clear purpose, the right people, and a real outcome. Many meetings should not be meetings at all. Default to async; when you do meet, make it count and protect everyone's time.

The goal is not to get rid of meetings. Some things genuinely need real-time discussion. The goal is to be deliberate so we do not drown in them. Before you schedule a meeting, ask whether a written update or an async discussion would do instead. When a meeting is the right tool, give it a purpose, an agenda, and an outcome. Remember that everyone there is spending time they could be building with (see Time Management & Focus, Communication).

Decide if it should be a meeting

DoDefault to async (a written doc or thread) for status, FYIs, and things that do not need live back-and-forth. Keep meetings for discussion, decisions, and alignment.
DoInvite only the people who genuinely need to be there. Make others optional or send notes. Every attendee is a real cost.
DoKeep meetings as short as they need to be, and protect large blocks of meeting-free focus time for the team (see Time Management & Focus, Developer Experience).

Make the meeting count

DoSet a clear purpose and agenda in advance, so people can prepare and know why they are there.
DoHave someone facilitate: keep it on track, make space for quieter voices, and stop it running over (see Respect & Inclusion).
DoEnd with clear outcomes: decisions, owners, and next steps, written down and shared (see Communication).
DoBe present. Do not multitask through meetings you are in. If you do not need to be there, leave or decline.
AvoidStatus-round meetings that could be a written update, recurring meetings no one questions, and meetings with no agenda or outcome.

Self-review checklist

AskDoes this need a meeting, or would async do?
AskDoes it have a clear purpose, an agenda, and only the people who need to be there?
AskWill it end with decisions, owners, and notes, or just talk?
AskAm I protecting the team's focus time, not filling the calendar with meetings?

Why it matters: Meetings use the team's most valuable resource — focused time — at a multiplied rate. Unnecessary or unfocused ones are pure waste, and they also break up the deep work where real engineering happens. Being deliberate about when and how we meet protects both productivity and morale.