Team meeting audit: 3 tests for an effective Meeting OS (and 4 steps to fix it!)

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Team meeting audit: 3 tests for an effective Meeting OS (and 4 steps to fix it!)

Team meeting audit: 3 tests for an effective Meeting OS (and 4 steps to fix it!)

Part II: Take action

3. Find flow

How can we find more flow time?

What’s a flow disruptor?

First a reminder: Not all free time is created equal. Paul Graham wrote a wonderful piece on the value of uninterrupted time in

Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule⁠

In the

2. Flow test⁠

, we auto-calculated everyone’s flow time. As a reminder, we found that across the team, we have

82.1%

⁠

flow time, and you (

Anonymous User

⁠

) have

[ ]

⁠

flow time.

In this page, we’re going to identify our flow disruptors. This is simply defined as any meeting where the time before or after is less than our flow time threshold of

2

⁠

hours. It’s a simple idea: if we move or cancel those meetings, we’ll create more flow!

Step 1: Identify individual flow disruptors.

We’ll start by identifying the events that disrupt your individual flow. The calendar and table below show all your meetings with the flow disruptors colored in red. Are there changes you can make to find more flow time?

⁠

Show only flow disruptors

November 2024

Week

Today

6:00 AM

6:30 AM

7:00 AM

7:30 AM

8:00 AM

8:30 AM

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10:30 AM

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11:30 AM

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1:00 PM

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2:30 PM

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4:30 PM

5:00 PM

5:30 PM

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7:00 PM

7:30 PM

8:00 PM

8:30 PM

9:00 PM

9:30 PM

10:00 PM

10:30 PM

11:00 PM

11:30 PM

⁠

My flow disruptors

My flow disruptors

Event

Free time before

Free time after

No results from filter

⁠

Step 2: Identify flow disruptors in your Meeting OS.

Building flow time into your Meeting OS makes it easier for individuals to find flow time on their own calendars. Similar to above, the calendar and table below show all the meetings in your Meeting OS with the flow disruptors colored in red. For this step, imagine that the team’s Meeting OS is the only calendar. Are there natural flow disruptors here as well?

Note: This assumes the work hours of your Meeting OS are between

9:00 AM

⁠

and

5:00 PM

⁠

Show only flow disruptors

May 2021

Week

Today

6:00 AM

6:30 AM

7:00 AM

7:30 AM

8:00 AM

8:30 AM

9:00 AM

9:30 AM

10:00 AM

10:30 AM

11:00 AM

11:30 AM

12:00 PM

12:30 PM

1:00 PM

1:30 PM

2:00 PM

2:30 PM

3:00 PM

3:30 PM

4:00 PM

4:30 PM

5:00 PM

5:30 PM

6:00 PM

6:30 PM

7:00 PM

7:30 PM

8:00 PM

8:30 PM

9:00 PM

9:30 PM

10:00 PM

10:30 PM

11:00 PM

11:30 PM

May 10, 2021

Daily standup

, 9:00 AM

May 10, 2021

Weekly Kick Off

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

May 11, 2021

Strategy session

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

May 11, 2021

Product review

11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

May 11, 2021

Tag-up: GTM

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

May 12, 2021

Lunch & Learn

9:30 AM - 11:00 AM

May 12, 2021

Tag-up: Product

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

May 14, 2021

Friday demos

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

⁠

Team meeting OS disruptors

Team meeting OS disruptors

Start Date

Event

Free time before (Meeting OS only)

Free time after (Meeting OS only)

Mon, May 10

Daily standup

30 mins

Weekly Kick Off

30 mins

6 hrs

Tue, May 11

Product review

2 hrs

45 mins

Tag-up: GTM

45 mins

3 hrs

Wed, May 12

Lunch & Learn

30 mins

3 hrs

⁠

Step 3: Take action → Brainstorm ideas to find flow.

Reflecting on your flow disruptors, what can we do about them? For instance, are there meetings we can move to create flow time? Or perhaps the inverse - can we collectively protect blocks of time (maybe even a whole day?) to preserve flow time? Add and vote on ideas to find more flow time. Then, discuss as a team.

⁠

Add action idea for increasing flow time

⁠

Clear ideas

⁠

Action Idea

Author

Vote

Let's do this!