For the past few months I've been doing three things that have significantly improved the meetings I run:

* Write down objectives, tasks, and analysis in advance
* Create agenda in advance, link to the written stuff
* Require attendees to read the written stuff before mtg

As a result, these meetings have eliminated a lot of wasteful and repetitive "talky-talky to get on the same page" and replaced it with meaningful discussion about details and informed and collaborative decision making.

Instead of spinning wheels, we make actual progress.

Establishing a culture of effective written documentation and analysis takes time, dedication, and intentionality.

It's *hard* to do this if people are used to showing up to meetings and participating based entirely on what they carry around in memory.

Therefore, this is something that leaders need to pay attention to.

You can't beat up your people for the time they spend writing things down and doing documentation.

You can't celebrate JIT, ad-hoc decision making for being "fast".

And most importantly, you need to continually coach and prod your team to follow your lead.

Saying "hey team, just start doing what I do" doesn't work. It's too big of a lift and a change for lots of folks.

Writing is a skill that gets rusty and it feels weird at first.

So, start small. Give your team specific pointers. "Hey Bob, for the <x> mtg we talked about, send me your agenda 24 hours in advance"

If the agenda lacks links to written analysis, prompt for that. Use your role power to push back the meeting to give Bob time to do this stuff.

It's all worth it.

Not only are the meetings I run more effective, but I'm producing accurate, enduring documentation about what we're doing.

And a side effect of writing it all down is that I keep more details in my head, so I can be effective at ad-hoc decisions when needed.