the meetings manifesto

five key characteristics for those times when synchronicity is a necessity

welcome back to the american product institute.

earlier this week, we published lightning strikes a landing page, an analysis of the cinematography and narrative arc of the superlist email signup experience.

the essay is sequel to the sunset of wunderlist, in which we examined the integration effects of the microsoft suite and the digital lobotomy undergone by the defunct application’s former userbase.

today, we publish our internal manifesto on how to run a meeting.

the meetings manifesto

once an endeavor involves multiple individuals, some amount of synchronous meetings between those individuals becomes a necessity.

below are the five key characteristics of these necessary meetings.

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1. meetings have a location

   • the location can be physical or digital or both

   • attendees must be present physically or digitally or both

   • attendees must also be present mentally

2. meetings have a start time and an end time

   • calendars are how professionals map time

   • the intersection of two or more calendars is a meeting

   • meetings should start at the beginning and end at the end

   • meetings can also end early

3. meetings have an attendee list

   • some people are required to attend

   • some are optional

   • some are not invited

   • attendee lists should be kept accurate and up to date

4. meetings have a cost

   • time is the only commodity that a human freely possesses

   • the professional turns his or her time into value for the company

   • in return, the company pays the professional a salary

   • the cost of a meeting is the time spent by each attendee attending

   • the hidden cost is the time spent traveling to and from the meeting - physically and mentally

5. meetings have an agenda and a purpose

   • the agenda outlines the actions to be undertaken in the meeting

   • the actions to be undertaken should have purpose

   • the purpose of a meeting should be more valuable than the cost

   • the value of a meeting is realized in the outcomes it produces

   • the outcomes and actions decided upon in the meeting should be communicated to all attendees once the meeting has concluded

these are the five key characteristics of necessary meetings.

it goes without saying that unnecessary meetings should not occur.

cover art by r. marshall - the toy dog club - 1855 - public domain

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