Thread by @heyblake

80% of meetings are a waste.

Here's a list of 13 ways to have meetings without actually having meetings:

Record a Loom video.

1. Prepare a quick agenda

2. Go over key points or demo

3. Answer any potential questions

4. Give a call to action

Send a Slackstorm.

1. Prepare notes beforehand

2. Notify team of incoming Slacks

3. Send all notes, questions, answers, ideas, resolutions, concerns, etc. to a Slack channel

4. Treat it like a Reddit AMA and have time set aside to respond

Write a memo.

1. Adopt a written-first culture

2. Write notes for processes and systems so meetings never have to happen for these things

3. As new questions and info come in, add to these docs

4. Be specific - goal is for new team members to understand these concepts quickly

Record voice messages.

1. Use Slack, Discord, Yac, or iMessage

2. Send quick voice updates a couple of times per day max

3. This method is great for quick Q&A

Use an "upvote" system for decision-making.

1. Compile a list of decisions to be made

2. Add these to an upvote system

3. Incentivize the team to vote on new items

4. Respect the results of the upvote

Do a deep work session at a scheduled time.

1. Pick a time you are all free

2. Have a 5-minute chat to pick the projects you'll work on in the next 2 hours

3. Eliminate any dependencies for those 2 hours

4. Deep work all at the same time

5. All distractions turned off

Host daily standups.

1. Use your team messaging app for this

2. Set up a clear "Yesterday" and "Today" model for discussing key priorities

3. Update your own daily priorities each morning

4. Take note of others' priorities as well

Jump in a Google Doc or Notion together.

1. Have a common task or thing to write

2. Jump into a collab doc

3. Start writing away and let the juices flow

4. This will get messy, but work sessions can be massively beneficial

Share a slide deck.

1. Prep a slide deck with your main thoughts

2. Give visual and textual instruction

3. Assign work right within the deck

4. Follow up

5. Pairs really well with a Loom video

Set up a bot for quick updates in Slack.

1. Set up a Slack bot that asks how people are doing today, where they need help, what they're focused on, etc.

2. Complete daily without fail, and follow up with others

Set up recurring team surveys.

1. Great for recurring info you need from team members

2. Set up a Google Form or Typeform

3. Have the same questions weekly

4. Follow up on responses

Agenda first, meeting second.

1. Ask for a clear agenda first if you are requested for a meeting

2. If no agenda is given, meeting doesn't happen

3. If agenda is given, ask to cut it in half

Default to saying "no" to meetings.

1. Avoid meeting without a clear purpose

2. Say "yes" to meetings with people, "no" to meetings for info

3. Info meetings can almost always be asynchronous

4. We still need 1:1 chats regularly with people

That's all folks!

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