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Does your team run weekly meetings? Or are you thinking of starting?
I’ve been asked many times about how @podia runs our weekly ~20 minute long all hands meeting.
We’ve been using the same format for 3 years (with small tweaks) and it’s worked really well for us.
A thread
I’ve been asked many times about how @podia runs our weekly ~20 minute long all hands meeting.
We’ve been using the same format for 3 years (with small tweaks) and it’s worked really well for us.
A thread
It all starts with a weekly email — I’ve written 150+! — I send on Saturdays.
Here’s how I write the email and run the meeting.
Here’s how I write the email and run the meeting.
Since we have a fully remote team that spans time zones from California to Bulgaria, we’ve found that 12pm ET on Mondays work best.
It’s the start of the day for some (west coast time) and middle/end of the day for others.
It’s the start of the day for some (west coast time) and middle/end of the day for others.
Everything starts the Friday before.
By EOD Friday, our CMO @lenmarkidan sends me an email titled “This week in Podia Marketing” with bullet points from all of his teams:
- Content
- Video
- Success
He also includes marketing metrics.
By EOD Friday, our CMO @lenmarkidan sends me an email titled “This week in Podia Marketing” with bullet points from all of his teams:
- Content
- Video
- Success
He also includes marketing metrics.
In his email, those marketing metrics include:
- Trials by Week
- Trials by Source
- Paid Subs by Week
- Paid Subs by Source
We use @heap for this.
Alongside this, we add a graph of our MRR and Net Revenue.
- Trials by Week
- Trials by Source
- Paid Subs by Week
- Paid Subs by Source
We use @heap for this.
Alongside this, we add a graph of our MRR and Net Revenue.
Armed with the marketing portion of the weekly email, I then turn to @basecamp.
In Basecamp, all of our developers and designers answer EOD Friday as well:
"What did you get done this week?”
Now I have all of the marketing and development info I need to start writing.
In Basecamp, all of our developers and designers answer EOD Friday as well:
"What did you get done this week?”
Now I have all of the marketing and development info I need to start writing.
On Saturday mornings, with a cup of coffee 
, I begin to write my weekly email.
I title it “Podia: This week’s agenda”, and I include the following:
- A 1-2 sentence intro
- Product updates from the dev team
- Bugs we’ll work on this week
(cont’d)
, I begin to write my weekly email.I title it “Podia: This week’s agenda”, and I include the following:
- A 1-2 sentence intro
- Product updates from the dev team
- Bugs we’ll work on this week
(cont’d)
- A call-out to customer feedback (which gets shared during the meeting by our Lead Customer Support Agent)
- Marketing updates
- Miscellaneous updates (e.g. hiring, new policies, etc.)
- Marketing updates
- Miscellaneous updates (e.g. hiring, new policies, etc.)
The email can take me up to 30 minutes to write, but most of the time it’s closer to 20 as it’s so routine for me.
It follows the same format every week, and keeps people completely up-to-date on everything that’s going on.
It follows the same format every week, and keeps people completely up-to-date on everything that’s going on.
When the email is written, I send it out to everyone on our team.
I used to enter everyone’s emails one by one, but as we’ve grown, we’ve had to create a group in G Suite to make this easier
Our meeting will follow the same format as the email.
I used to enter everyone’s emails one by one, but as we’ve grown, we’ve had to create a group in G Suite to make this easier
Our meeting will follow the same format as the email.
Fast forward to Monday at NOON:
We have a @zoom_us link that’s automatically shared to our @slackhq #general channel 10 minutes before.
Everyone joins the meeting and I share my screen — highlighting the email.
We have a @zoom_us link that’s automatically shared to our @slackhq #general channel 10 minutes before.
Everyone joins the meeting and I share my screen — highlighting the email.
I start with a quick 30 second intro and then pass the mic to the first developer on the list under product updates.
This person adds a little color to the update I’ve written. This gives everyone the chance to talk about their work with the rest of the team.
This person adds a little color to the update I’ve written. This gives everyone the chance to talk about their work with the rest of the team.
We then go down the list one person at a time.
When we get to the customer feedback portion of the all hands meeting, our Lead Customer Support Agent will highlight 6-12 pieces of feedback we’ve received from the week before.
These aren’t all actionable, but it gives everyone an update on how are our customers are feeling.
These aren’t all actionable, but it gives everyone an update on how are our customers are feeling.
We then turn to marketing and the marketing team leads go through their updates, starting with @lenmarkidan discussing key metrics.
Our content lead goes over their team’s work, followed by @bentoalson with video updates, and @mattragland updating on creator success.
Our content lead goes over their team’s work, followed by @bentoalson with video updates, and @mattragland updating on creator success.
We’ve now reached the “Misc.” portion of our meeting.
That can include anything from hiring updates to policy changes.
Every quarter, @lenmarkidan and I will also present the board deck.
We don’t hold anything back; everything the board sees, the team gets to see, too.
That can include anything from hiring updates to policy changes.
Every quarter, @lenmarkidan and I will also present the board deck.
We don’t hold anything back; everything the board sees, the team gets to see, too.
That’s everything! 
Our team loves the meeting, because:
1. The email sets the tone for the week
2. The meeting is short and to-the-point
3. We follow the same format so it’s easy to grok
4. Almost everyone gets a chance to speak
Let me know if you have any questions.
Our team loves the meeting, because:
1. The email sets the tone for the week
2. The meeting is short and to-the-point
3. We follow the same format so it’s easy to grok
4. Almost everyone gets a chance to speak
Let me know if you have any questions.
