Set your pre-meeting up for success

That meeting agenda you created? Open it, add any links or pre-read materials to the async ‘Context’ section, and pre-populate the ‘3d’s’ section with questions or topics you need input on. Think about what you want to tell or ask folks once the meeting begins, and document that before the meeting.

Once the pre-read materials and questions are in the agenda document, message or email those who are confirmed to attend the meeting. Aim to send this one business day before your meeting (or two for especially robust topics). Point attendees to the updated questions and topics to ponder, empowering them to gain context on their terms. As a bonus, you may see the conversation begin in the document before the meeting even happens!

Depending on how in-depth the pre-read materials are, set aside 5, 10, or even 15 minutes at the start of a meeting for folks to read and absorb the content. Switch cameras off during silent reading and turn cameras back on when you’re ready to engage. Not only is this a calming way to start a meeting, but it also reinforces the practice of documentation across your team. When folks see that documented agendas are given proper space to be read and consumed, they’ll feel compelled to hop on the documented agenda bandwagon!