Before you schedule that meeting, ask yourself: what three questions does this meeting need to answer?
If you can't name the three questions, you probably don't need the meeting.
Why Three?
One question is too few — it means you're not thinking critically enough about what you need from the meeting. You might be able to answer it in an email.
Two questions is possible, but often they're related enough that they could be one question or you're missing the broader context.
Four or more questions means the meeting is probably too ambitious. Break it into multiple meetings, or accept that you'll only get to three (and the others won't happen).
Three is the Goldilocks zone of meeting scope.
Examples
Project kickoff meeting:
- What's the core problem we're solving? (not the solution — the PROBLEM)
- What constraints do we have? (timeline, budget, technology, people)
- What's our definition of done? (how will we know if this succeeded)
Design review:
- Does this design solve the user's core problem?
- Are there any technical concerns with this approach?
- What's the rollout plan?
Retrospective:
- What should we STOP doing?
- What should we START doing?
- What should we KEEP doing?
Planning meeting:
- What are we trying to achieve this sprint/quarter?
- What's our biggest risk?
- How will we track progress?
The Test
Before sending the meeting invite, write down the three questions. If you can't identify them, the meeting is probably a status update disguised as a decision meeting — and status updates work better async.
The Template I Use
I track all of this in my Meeting Mastery System, which includes:
- Three-question meeting planner template
- Decision log for tracking outcomes
- Action tracker with owners and due dates
- Post-meeting follow-up template
- 12-minute timer for keeping meetings short
It's a simple system. Three questions. Three outcomes. No waste.
[Link to Meeting Mastery System in bio]
The goal isn't more meetings. It's meetings that produce answers.
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