🚩 I used to think meetings were just a necessary evil

I used to think meetings were just a necessary evil.

Endless hours, little progress.

Then, I stumbled across a stat—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.🙏

Bezos’s 3 Rules for Productive Meetings

1. The Two-Pizza Rule

↳ Keep it small.
↳ Only invite enough people that two pizzas could feed.

2. The Empty Chair Rule

↳ Leave one chair empty.
↳ It’s for your target customer.

3. No PowerPoints

↳ Ditch the slides.
↳ Bring a 2-6 page narrative instead.

But knowing the rules isn't enough.

Here’s how I put them into action:

1. Micro Teams Only

↳ I kept the invite list tight—just the core players.
↳ No filler, no fluff.

2. The 6-Page Manifesto

↳ I wrote a thorough, no-nonsense document.
↳ Bullet points? Not a chance. It’s all about depth.

3. Silent Sync-Up

↳ We kicked off by reading in silence.
↳ No rush—everyone got aligned before a word was spoken.

4. Unfiltered Debate

↳ The gloves came off.
↳ We dug deep, asked hard questions, and didn’t shy away from conflict.

5. Actionable Next Steps

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

The result?

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

But here’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.

I’ve got a fantastic infographic that covers all of this in one page.

Download it for free!

Until next time,

Justin

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And, if you want you can read all of my past newsletters here.