Run Meetings Like a Pro - Cheat Sheet
Tips to effectively manage different types of meetings
Meetings are often labeled as a waste of time. However, I love meeting people face-to-face to brainstorm and resolve issues. I find them to be far more efficient when coupled with solid planning and effective management.
Today, I will share a cheat sheet to make your meetings productive. Different meeting types require different approaches. So, for these 5 meeting types, I will share
who these following tips are for
what you should do before the meeting
things to do during the meeting
and what to do after the meeting.
🚨 1. Incident review
For anyone presenting in an incident (SEV) review to a broader audience.
Purpose: Share what you learned from the incident and seek inputs on how to improve your system.
Before:
Find the root cause and potential improvements.
Prepare a short and comprehensive write-up.
Find a note-taker.
Prepare answers to FAQs.
During:
Provide an overview of the incident and the necessary context for the audience.
Explain the impact of the incident.
Dive into the root cause.
Explain how the issue was detected, escalated to the right team, and mitigated.
Propose any improvements - could it be detected or mitigated faster?
Share how you will prevent the issue from recurring.
Answer questions and take follow-ups.
Don’t forget to reframe them if the questions are a bit blunt.
After:
Respond to any unresolved questions
Finish the follow-ups
💡 2. Convince a customer to do XYZ
For anyone trying to convince a customer or a different team to adopt a solution.
Purpose: Share with the customer why XYZ is important to you and address their concerns.
Before:
Set up the meeting with a clear agenda and the right audience.
If the topic is complex, then share a document with details.
As the meeting gets closer, remind attendees about the pre-read.
During:
Re-establish the purpose of the meeting and the desired outcome
Assume most people haven't read the document. Give a quick overview and context.
Listen to their concerns and understand their side.
Show empathy and be open to alternatives.
If the discussion goes in circles, then identify the follow-ups and meet again later.
After
Schedule follow-up meetings if necessary.
Ensure you reach a conclusion even if it is not optimal
Further Reading: Details on how to build consensus the right way here.
🔄 3. Frequent cross-team sync
For anyone organizing regular meetings between two or more teams.
Purpose: A periodic meeting for a v-team that spans across many teams to share updates and discuss nuanced topics.
Before:
Curate the discussion topics upfront
A topic poll works best for me
If there are no topics, then cancel it.
Spend a few minutes phrasing your status update
Appoint a note-taker
During
Run through the status update quickly
Celebrate if the group hits a milestone.
Prioritize topics for discussion by urgency
Keep it casual. Sometimes, it's okay for folks to have imperfect discussions.
After
Share the meeting notes with all stakeholders (including leadership)
Set up focused follow-up meetings for difficult topics.
🛠️ 4. Taking a difficult request
For anyone who got a meeting invite from a customer team that is requesting a ‘hard to build’ feature.
Purpose: Help the customer find a good solution or alternatives.
Before:
Seek clarification if the meeting agenda isn’t clear
Finish the pre-read and share your concerns in the document
Determine the outcome(s) that works for you
Prepare to be surprised
Remind yourself that you don’t need to commit in this meeting
During
Listen carefully to understand their justification.
Pause and think about the implications for your team.
Don’t rush to commit!
Explain your constraints in a language they understand
Propose less expensive alternatives
If you need time then clearly state why you need time and when you will come back to them
After
Take the next meeting only after the two sides have had time to do their homework.
Feel free to take charge of the discussion if you feel you can drive it better.
Further Reading: How I made a frustrated customer happy.
🏛️ 5. Team roadmap review with Leadership
For anyone presenting their team’s roadmap to leadership.
Purpose: Share your roadmap with leadership for their buy-in, feedback, and help.
Before:
Document the main objectives and key results
Annotate the key milestones and dependencies
Review the presentation with other tech leads and your manager
Prepare answers to FAQs
During
Share the justifications for new projects.
For long-term/ongoing objectives, share what has been accomplished and what comes in subsequent planning cycles.
Highlight the risks.
Articulate where you need help from leadership.
Answer questions at a high level, but deep dive when they want the details.
After
Resolve open questions.
Share the feedback with the rest of the team.
📝 Parting Note
Poorly managed meetings can feel like a waste of time. However, when properly planned and driven, they can stimulate brainstorming and build alignment. It may feel too hard at first, but with practice, you will become awesome at running them.
🎤 Shoutout
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Love these quick how-to guides, Raviraj.
I'm curious, do you use separate templates for each of these to run the meeting agenda or have a standard one that works across the board?
By the way, thanks for the mention in your shout-outs!
Nice read! I prefer to make the most of asynchronous work and meetings whenever possible. I prefer brain writing before brainstorming whenever possible.