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šŸš© I used to think meetings were just a necessary evil

Then, I stumbled across this statistic.

Author

Justin Bateh
September 04, 2024

I used to think meetings were just a necessary evil.

Endless hours, little progress.

Then, I stumbled across a statā€”67% of meetings are considered unproductive.

That hit hard.

But here's the kicker: Jeff Bezos, the man who once oversaw over 1.5 million employees, manages his time with precision.

How does he do it? He shared his secrets.

I decided to steal them.

Let me share what I found.šŸ™

Bezosā€™s 3 Rules for Productive Meetings

1. The Two-Pizza Rule

ā†³ Keep it small.
ā†³ Only invite enough people that two pizzas could feed.

2. The Empty Chair Rule

ā†³ Leave one chair empty.
ā†³ Itā€™s for your target customer.

3. No PowerPoints

ā†³ Ditch the slides.
ā†³ Bring a 2-6 page narrative instead.

But knowing the rules isn't enough.

Hereā€™s how I put them into action:

1. Micro Teams Only

ā†³ I kept the invite list tightā€”just the core players.
ā†³ No filler, no fluff.

2. The 6-Page Manifesto

ā†³ I wrote a thorough, no-nonsense document.
ā†³ Bullet points? Not a chance. Itā€™s all about depth.

3. Silent Sync-Up

ā†³ We kicked off by reading in silence.
ā†³ No rushā€”everyone got aligned before a word was spoken.

4. Unfiltered Debate

ā†³ The gloves came off.
ā†³ We dug deep, asked hard questions, and didnā€™t shy away from conflict.

5. Actionable Next Steps

ā†³ Each meeting ended with a concrete plan.
ā†³ Specific tasks, assigned ownership, and set deadlines.

The result?

Meetings still fell flat for most people... including me.

But hereā€™s the twist:

I stuck with it. Refined the process. I tweaked every step until it clicked.

And when it finally did?

Meetings became game-changers.

So go ahead, steal these rules.

They might not work right away.

But if you keep pushing, your team will thank you.

Iā€™ve got a fantastic infographic that covers all of this in one page.

Until next time,

Justin

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