How to Run Meetings Better Than 99% of Companies

Ryan Deiss

4 Aug 202409:32

Summary

TLDRIn this video, Ryan Deiss shares a four-part meeting rhythm that transformed meetings into highly productive sessions. Deiss, who oversees 17 companies, emphasizes the importance of structured, outcome-driven meetings. Key principles include treating meetings as essential work, maintaining consistency, and setting clear rules: no agenda, no outcome, no expert, and no scorecard, no meeting. He outlines a meeting cadence focused on strategic 3-year plans, 90-day quarterly sprints, monthly reviews, and weekly scorecard meetings, which reduces the need for ad-hoc sessions. This structured rhythm improves team efficiency and long-term success.

Takeaways

💼 Meetings are essential to business success, and when done right, they can be the most valuable time spent with the team.
🏆 Principle 1: Meetings are real work. Companies need meetings to be efficient and successful, similar to how sports teams and relationships need communication.
🔄 Principle 2: Consistency is key. A predictable meeting rhythm saves time and leads to better optimization and results.
📜 Principle 3: Establish rules for meetings. Key rules include: No agenda, no meeting; no outcome, no meeting; no expert, no meeting; no scorecard, no meeting.
📊 A leadership team should meet every three years for strategic planning, focusing on long-term goals instead of annual planning, which is seen as ineffective.
📅 Break down the three-year plan into 12 quarterly chunks. Quarterly sprint planning meetings set 90-day goals and key initiatives to keep progress on track.
📈 Monthly business reviews assess if the team is on track with quarterly plans and adjust strategies if needed.
🟢 Weekly scorecard meetings evaluate key metrics (green, yellow, red) to ensure continuous progress. Major pivots happen in monthly reviews, not weekly meetings.
💡 Ad hoc meetings, like project kickoffs or emergency meetings, should be minimized by following the consistent meeting rhythm.
🕒 Following this rhythm actually reduces meeting time, leading to more focused and productive sessions, saving time overall.

Q & A

What is the core idea behind the meeting rhythm implemented in the speaker's businesses?
-The meeting rhythm focuses on transforming meetings into highly productive and valuable time. It ensures consistency, clear goals, and efficiency by following a structured approach that minimizes unnecessary meetings.
Why does the speaker emphasize that 'meetings are work'?
-The speaker emphasizes this to counter the notion that meetings are inherently wasteful. He argues that meetings, when done correctly, are essential for communication, decision-making, and organizational success.
What does the speaker suggest is the main problem with ad hoc meetings?
-Ad hoc meetings are often interruptive and inefficient. By establishing a consistent meeting rhythm, the need for frequent ad hoc meetings is reduced because issues can be handled during scheduled meetings.
Why does the speaker believe in 'three-year' strategic planning over 'annual' planning?
-The speaker finds annual planning too short-term to achieve meaningful goals and too long-term to be predictable. Three-year planning strikes the right balance for setting significant, impactful objectives while allowing room for adjustments.
What are the four key rules the speaker's company follows for meetings?
-1. No Agenda, No Meeting. 2. No Outcome, No Meeting. 3. No Expert, No Meeting. 4. No Scorecard, No Meeting.
How does the speaker suggest optimizing long-term business performance?
-Optimization is framed as a ritual, not a one-time task. Continuous, consistent efforts through regular meetings ensure that businesses can optimize performance over time, rather than making occasional, reactive changes.
What is the purpose of the weekly scorecard meeting?
-In weekly scorecard meetings, the team reviews the company’s key performance metrics to assess progress. They identify which metrics are performing well and which need attention, but avoid major pivots during these meetings.
How does the speaker recommend breaking down long-term goals?
-The speaker recommends breaking down three-year goals into 12 quarterly sprints. Each quarter, the team meets to establish the key projects and metrics that will keep the business on track for its long-term targets.
What is the role of a 'monthly business review' in this meeting rhythm?
-The monthly business review serves as a checkpoint to assess progress toward quarterly goals. It allows the team to make necessary adjustments or pivots to stay on track with their long-term objectives.
How does the speaker argue that a consistent meeting rhythm saves time?
-A consistent meeting rhythm saves time by reducing the need for frequent ad hoc meetings and ensuring that team discussions are focused, productive, and goal-oriented. Over time, this structure leads to fewer interruptions and more efficient operations.

Outlines

00:00

📊 Transforming Meetings into Valuable Team Time

Ryan Deiss explains how implementing a four-part meeting rhythm in his businesses turned time-wasting meetings into highly productive sessions. He introduces himself as the manager of 17 companies under a $200 million holding group, highlighting his extensive experience with meetings. Deiss emphasizes that meetings, when done right, are not only valuable but crucial to business success. He compares them to essential communication in sports teams or personal relationships. While some argue that meetings are a waste of time, Deiss contends that well-structured meetings are vital for long-term success.

05:01

💡 Core Principle #1: Meetings Are Real Work

Deiss stresses that meetings are legitimate work, countering the trend of avoiding them entirely. He acknowledges the idea that fewer meetings can be better but insists they are necessary for any successful team or relationship. He cites Peter Drucker’s view that meetings reflect poor organization and should be minimized, but also notes that this doesn't mean eliminating meetings altogether. The key is in structuring meetings properly to ensure they provide real value and aren't time-wasters.

⏰ Core Principle #2: Consistency in Meetings Saves Time

Deiss underscores the importance of having a consistent and predictable meeting rhythm. Instead of holding ad-hoc meetings frequently, a steady schedule can streamline discussions and save time. He introduces the idea that optimization is a ritual, not a one-time task. Success is achieved through consistent adjustments, which happen best when teams meet regularly in a structured environment. This regular optimization is essential for maintaining long-term success.

⚖️ Core Principle #3: Establish Meeting Rules

According to Deiss, having rules around meetings is crucial for both efficiency and cultural alignment. He outlines four key rules: 1) No agenda, no meeting, meaning every meeting needs a clear agenda. 2) No outcome, no meeting, stressing that meetings should lead to decisions or changes, not maintaining the status quo. 3) No expert, no meeting, ensuring that someone present can make a final decision. 4) No scorecard, no meeting, which requires clarity on the current situation and metrics before the meeting.

🚀 The Three-Year Strategic Planning Meeting

Deiss introduces his company’s primary meeting rhythm, starting with a one-day strategic planning meeting every three years. This meeting sets long-term company goals and strategic direction, such as mission, vision, and values, and breaks the plan down into three-year targets. He advises against annual planning, claiming it’s too short for meaningful change and too long for precise forecasting. Instead, a three-year horizon is ideal for accomplishing substantial goals.

🎯 The Quarterly Sprint Planning Meeting

Following the three-year strategic meeting, Deiss describes the quarterly sprint planning meeting, where 90-day goals are set based on the longer-term objectives. These meetings last half a day to a full day and focus on setting revenue, profitability targets, and greenlighting key initiatives. The goal is to ensure that every 90 days, the company is on track toward achieving its long-term vision. This meeting is critical for keeping momentum and ensuring continuous optimization.

📅 Monthly Business Review Meetings

The monthly business review meetings are held at the end of every month to assess progress. This is where teams evaluate whether they are on track with the quarterly goals and whether any adjustments are needed. While major pivots aren't usually made during these meetings, they serve as checkpoints to see if progress aligns with the larger strategic objectives.

📈 Weekly Scorecard Meetings for Continuous Tracking

Every week, Deiss and his leadership team hold scorecard meetings to review key metrics. The scorecard provides a snapshot of what's going well and what needs attention, with green indicating success, yellow showing concern, and red signaling urgent issues. These meetings help ensure that any problems identified can be addressed proactively, though major changes are reserved for the monthly business reviews.

🛠️ Ad-Hoc Meetings for Special Circumstances

Deiss explains that ad-hoc meetings, such as project kickoffs or crisis discussions, occur when necessary, but the goal is to minimize them through the structured meeting rhythm. He notes that having fewer ad-hoc meetings is a direct result of following the established rhythm, which cuts down on the need for last-minute gatherings.

🔄 Planning in Three-Year Cycles and 90-Day Sprints

Deiss concludes by summarizing his meeting rhythm, urging companies to plan in three-year cycles and break down those goals into quarterly sprints. Weekly scorecard reviews and monthly business reviews ensure consistent tracking and allow for timely pivots. While this might seem like a lot of meetings, Deiss assures that the structure saves time overall by reducing the need for inefficient or redundant gatherings. He invites feedback on how others might implement these principles in their meeting routines.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Meeting Rhythm

Meeting Rhythm refers to the structured and consistent schedule of meetings within a business to ensure regular communication and alignment. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of a four-part Meeting Rhythm that includes strategic planning, quarterly reviews, weekly scorecard meetings, and ad hoc meetings. This rhythm transforms meetings from unproductive to highly efficient by promoting predictability and focus.

💡No Agenda, No Meeting

This rule insists that every meeting must have a clear agenda before it starts. Without a defined purpose or topics to cover, the meeting shouldn't take place. The video highlights this as one of the core rules for efficient meetings, ensuring that time spent in meetings is purposeful and productive.

💡Scorecard

A scorecard is a tool used to track the performance metrics of a company or team. In the video, the speaker explains that every meeting, particularly weekly scorecard meetings, should be driven by an agreed-upon set of metrics that reflect the current state of the business. The scorecard helps to ensure that all team members are aligned on what the reality of the situation is before making decisions.

💡Three-Year Cycles

This concept refers to the speaker’s approach to long-term business planning. Instead of engaging in annual planning, which is considered too short-sighted, the speaker advocates for planning in three-year cycles. This allows the company to set ambitious goals and make significant progress over a more meaningful period.

💡Optimization is a Ritual, Not a Task

This phrase highlights the importance of continuous, consistent improvement rather than a one-time effort. The speaker insists that for teams to succeed, they need to optimize regularly as part of their routine, not just as a sporadic or one-time event. Meetings are the key places where this optimization happens, hence why the meeting rhythm is crucial.

💡Quarterly Sprint Planning Meeting

A quarterly sprint planning meeting is a longer meeting held every three months to set specific objectives and initiatives for the next 90 days. In the video, the speaker describes how these meetings break down the three-year strategic goals into actionable quarterly tasks, ensuring the company stays on track toward its long-term objectives.

💡No Outcome, No Meeting

This rule means that if a meeting does not aim to achieve a specific outcome or resolution, it should not take place. The speaker emphasizes that meetings should result in decisions or actions, especially if something is not working well. Without a clear desired outcome, the meeting risks being unproductive.

💡Leadership Team Strategic Planning

This refers to the highest-level meeting in the speaker’s framework, where the leadership team gathers to set the company's mission, vision, values, and three-year goals. The speaker stresses the importance of this meeting for steering the company’s direction and ensuring all team members are aligned with long-term objectives.

💡Weekly Scorecard Meeting

A weekly scorecard meeting is a brief meeting where the leadership team reviews performance metrics, which are displayed on the scorecard. The video explains that this meeting helps track progress against the company’s goals and ensures that any potential issues are identified and addressed promptly, without needing to make major pivots outside of the monthly review.

💡Ad Hoc Meeting

An ad hoc meeting is a spontaneous or unscheduled meeting that occurs in response to urgent situations or specific project needs. The video mentions that with a proper meeting rhythm, the frequency of these unplanned meetings should decrease, as regular, structured meetings cover most needs.

Highlights

Transform meetings from time-wasters into high-leverage sessions by implementing a four-part meeting rhythm.

Meetings are essential for business success, and eliminating them entirely is counterproductive.

Consistency in a meeting rhythm saves time and prevents unnecessary ad hoc meetings.

Optimization is a ritual, not a one-time task; it requires regular team meetings for continuous improvement.

Rule 1: No agenda, no meeting. Always have a clear agenda for any meeting.

Rule 2: No outcome, no meeting. Meetings must be designed to achieve clear outcomes and decisions.

Rule 3: No expert, no meeting. Ensure the right people with decision-making power are present in the meeting.

Rule 4: No scorecard, no meeting. Every meeting must include a scorecard to establish a clear understanding of the current state and performance.

Hold a one-day strategic planning meeting every three years to set long-term goals, mission, vision, and values.

Stop annual planning; three-year cycles allow for more meaningful and impactful progress.

Quarterly sprint planning meetings set clear objectives for the next 90 days and define actions to keep the company on track.

Monthly business reviews assess the progress of quarterly plans and provide opportunities to pivot as needed.

Weekly scorecard meetings review key metrics, helping teams stay on track with their goals.

Ad hoc meetings, such as project kickoffs or emergency sessions, are minimized with a consistent meeting rhythm.

A consistent meeting rhythm can actually reduce the overall time spent in meetings, providing structure and clarity across teams.