We’ve all been in the meeting.
Everyone gives an update.
- “We’re working on it.”
- “We’re waiting to hear back.”
- “We should know something next week.”
Forty-five minutes later, everyone leaves knowing approximately the same things they knew when they arrived.
Nothing terrible happened.
But did anything actually move?
That’s an important distinction.
Because it’s easy to confuse meeting with movement.
Your Calendar Is Part of Your Operating Rhythm
Meetings often get treated as isolated events.
We create an agenda.
Invite the right people.
Find an available hour.
Have the conversation.
Schedule the next one.
But recurring meetings are actually part of something much bigger: the operating rhythm of a business or team.
They reveal how work moves.
- Where are decisions made?
- Where are obstacles surfaced?
- Where are priorities clarified?
- Where do people ask for help?
- Where is ownership reinforced?
- And what happens when something isn’t moving?
A good operating rhythm creates places for those conversations to happen intentionally.
A bad one simply fills the calendar.
Status Isn’t the Same as Progress
Consider this conversation:
- “Where are we on the proposal?”
- “We’re still working on it.”
- “Okay. Keep us posted.”
That’s a status update.
Now imagine this:
- “Where are we on the proposal?”
- “We’re waiting for pricing.”
- “What do you need to move forward?”
- “If we don’t receive it by Wednesday, I’d like to use preliminary numbers and update them later.”
- “Good. Make that decision Wednesday. Are you still on track for Friday?”
- “Yes.”
Now something has changed.
An obstacle was identified.
A decision was anticipated.
Authority was clarified.
The work moved.
The difference wasn’t a better agenda.
It was a different kind of conversation.
Know Why You’re Meeting
Not every meeting needs to accomplish the same thing.
- Sometimes people genuinely need information.
- Sometimes a team needs to solve a problem.
- Sometimes several people need to coordinate work.
- Sometimes we need debate before making a decision.
- Sometimes someone simply needs help getting around an obstacle.
The trouble starts when we haven’t decided which conversation we need.
That’s when meetings become a little bit of everything—and accomplish very little.
Before scheduling one, try asking:
What needs to be different when this meeting ends?
- Maybe everyone needs to understand something.
- Maybe we need a decision.
- Maybe someone needs clear ownership.
- Maybe an obstacle needs to be removed.
- Maybe there isn’t anything that needs to be different.
In which case, perhaps everyone just got an hour back.
You’re welcome. 😊
Don’t Make Yourself the Operating System
There’s another meeting pattern worth watching.
- The leader asks for every update.
- The leader identifies the problems.
- The leader determines priorities.
- The leader makes every decision.
- The leader assigns every next step.
It may look efficient.
But if the meeting can’t function without the leader, we’ve recreated the same dependency we were trying to solve.
A strong operating rhythm should help other people develop the ability to manage work, identify issues, make appropriate decisions, and take ownership.
One useful test is simple:
If I weren’t at this meeting, could the work still move?
If the answer is no, get curious about why.
End With Movement
Last week, I shared four questions for creating clearer agreements:
What did we decide?
What’s next?
Who owns it?
By when?
Those same questions are a great way to close a meeting.
But I’d add one more:
What moved because we met?
Over time, that question changes the way people approach meetings.
We’re no longer gathering simply because Tuesday at 10:00 came around again.
We’re gathering because there’s work that needs to move.
And as your business grows, that’s exactly what a good operating rhythm should help you do.
Not create more meetings.
Create more movement.