Meetings. They are unavoidable and necessary, but there are many times when people walk away saying, “that could have been sent in an email.” During my first year as a principal, I decided to think outside the box to make my meetings as meaningful as possible while being concise and thorough. Since I do not believe in re-inventing the wheel if I can, I started my research.

One evening I was talking to my husband about what I was looking for and he mentioned Jeff Bezos’ concept of a Crisp Document, Messy Meeting. You can find this type of meeting discussed on Lex Friedman’s podcast here. I was intrigued to say the least, based on how it was described it sounded like my type of system. These were my initial takeaways from the Crisp Document, Messy Meeting and the Six Page Memo.

• Typed out memo – this puts the work on the presenter unlike a PowerPoint that puts the work on the audience.
• Silent Reading – the memo is not shared ahead of time. The team receives the memo at the beginning of the meeting, and there is a time for silent reading.
• Discussion – once everyone has read the memo then it is time to have a loose meeting that involves discussing the memo since everyone is on the same page.

Now it was time for me to figure out how to incorporate this in my staff meetings because they are a little different than the meetings that Jeff Bezos was doing at Amazon. I am very limited on time and must have each meeting structured to maximize efficiency. I knew that any memo I created had to be short, easily digestible, and would need to have a structure to the memo that allowed for familiarity so that my faculty could process the information quickly and be able to respond. I created the following format;

• Introduction – 1 to 2 paragraphs
• Goals – 1 paragraph
• Current Reality – 1 to 2 pages
• Lessons Learned – 1 to 2 pages
• Strategic Priorities (Next Steps) – 1 to 2 pages
• Appendix

I decided to give this a try during a faculty meeting that was scheduled to review building safety and intruder procedures. It took me about a week to create the memo and immediately fell in love with this format. I was very hopeful that if my staff found this memo beneficial we could continue using it regularly. The main reason I liked this process is that it forced me to really take my time and make sure I knew exactly what I was wanting to communicate and why. With a PowerPoint you can have a vague idea as long as you bullet point ideas and have graphics. For a memo, it has to be detailed and cohesive for it to read well. I have never felt so prepared for a meeting as I was for this one.

I started the meeting by explaining the structure of the meeting, handed out the memo, and gave everyone 20 minutes to read. The staff was provided pens to take notes and were instructed not to talk during the 20 minutes. After we were finished reading, I guided the group through each section of the memo and we discussed. My staff had great questions and provided valuable feedback. We were able to make immediate changes to our building safety procedures because of this structured meeting.

At the end I asked my staff what they liked and did not like about this type of meeting. Everyone voiced that they definitely wanted to keep this for future meetings. It was well laid out and all questions were answered. No one left feeling lost, which is always what I am striving for. To enhance this process, I made an adjustment to the time allocated for reading. I told staff that I would be at the meeting 20 minutes early and anyone who needed additional time with the memo may arrive then as well.

I used this format 2 more times since then, and it has continued to be a success with my team. I look forward to expanding on this idea in different platforms such as back to school professional development and even when I present at conferences. You can find the memo I talk about in the blog as a reference here. If you have different ways of structuring your meetings I would love to hear, leave a comment below!