A textbook blog from McGraw Hill, drawing on the work of Peter Drucker, describes how Alfred P. Sloan Jr. ran meetings at General Motors. “At the beginning of the meeting, he identified the purpose.” At the close, “he summed up and thanked people. Then he immediately wrote a short memo summarizing the discussion, conclusions, and work assignments decided upon.”
The Statement
“The FOMC holds eight regularly scheduled meetings per year.” Each meeting of the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting committee ends with a published statement that gives the decision and the vote.
After the meeting of October 28, 2026, the statement read: “The Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3-3/4 to 4 percent.” It was approved “by a 10 – 2 vote.” The dissenters were named: “Voting against the monetary policy action were Lisa D. Cook and Beth M. Hammack.”
The Decision Brief
The US military teaches a briefing format named for its result: the decision brief. A Marine Corps handout describes it: “Designed to be presented to a commander in order to elicit a decision.” At the start, the briefer must “State the purpose is to obtain a decision.”
At the end, the briefer must “Solicit decision or inquire if recommendation is approved or disapproved.” An Army manual says the same: “At the beginning, the briefer clearly states that he is seeking a decision,” and “at the end, he requests the decision.”
The Vocabulary of Outcomes
What are we trying to get out of this meeting? — What result should we have when we leave? It is often asked in the first minute.
What’s the ask? — What exactly do you want from us?
Where did we land? — What did we decide?
What’s the takeaway? — What should each of us remember and act on?
Let’s land the plane. — Let us stop discussing and reach a decision.
What’s the bottom line? — Skip the details and give the result.
Markup
In the US Congress, a markup is a “meeting by a committee or subcommittee during which committee members offer, debate, and vote on amendments to a measure.” The name refers to marking up, or amending, the text of the bill.
In the House, “at the end of the amendment process, the chair normally entertains a motion to report a measure favorably to the House.” If the motion passes, the bill is “ordered reported.”
Hung Jury
“A hung jury is a jury that is unable to reach a verdict by the required voting margin.” The judge can then declare a mistrial.
The protection against double jeopardy does not apply when a mistrial is declared because of a hung jury. The defendant can be tried again. The prosecution decides “if they want to retry the case or drop the charges.”
The jury’s deliberation produces no verdict. If the case is tried again, a new jury hears it from the beginning.
The Modern Meeting
In his short book Read This Before Our Next Meeting, Al Pittampalli sets a standard he calls the Modern Meeting. Such a meeting exists only to support a decision that has already been made. In his words: “In the Modern Meeting, the decision is King.”
He names two good reasons to meet: conflict and coordination. Meetings held only to share information should end. “We’ll cancel the informational meetings, but you must commit to reading the memos.”
No Decision-Maker, No Meeting
Larry Page became chief executive of Google again in April 2011. Kristen Gil, Google’s vice president of business operations, then published new rules for meetings in the company’s online newsletter Think Quarterly. “Every decision-oriented meeting should have a clear decision-maker, and if it didn’t, the meeting shouldn’t happen.”
Such meetings “should ideally consist of no more than 10 people, and everyone who attends should provide input.” Gil wrote: “Most importantly, decisions should never wait for a meeting.”
In January 2012 Business Insider reported the rules under the headline “How Larry Page Changed Meetings At Google After Taking Over Last Spring.” Reports often credit the rules to Page. The published text was written by Gil.
Two Kinds of Meetings
In High Output Management, published in 1983, Intel’s Andy Grove wrote: “A meeting is nothing less than the medium through which managerial work is performed.” He divided meetings into two kinds. In a process-oriented meeting, “knowledge is shared and information is exchanged.” A mission-oriented meeting is held when needed and “is designed to produce a specific output, frequently a decision.”
Grove made the chairman responsible for the second kind. The chairman “must have a clear understanding of the meeting’s objective.” Grove also wrote: “When a mission-oriented meeting fails to accomplish the purpose for which it was called, the blame belongs to the chairman.”
Closing the Loop
Let’s close the loop on this. — Let us finish it and confirm that it is finished.
Check the box. Cross it off the list. — The task is done, and the list shows it.
What are the next steps? Who owns this? — The questions at the end of a meeting.
Let’s wrap up. Tie up loose ends. — Finish what is still open.
Get it over the finish line. — Complete it, even if the last part is hard.
One more thing off my plate. — One less open task.