2.4 Meeting Hygiene

Meetings consume valuable synchronous time and represent one of the highest operational costs in the organization. They must be treated as expensive resources, not default workflows. Strict meeting hygiene is mandatory to maximize efficiency, enforce decision-making discipline, and respect the constraints of a globally distributed team. A meeting without a clear structure and recorded output is a process failure.

The Operational Mandate

To prevent schedule fragmentation and waste, all synchronous meetings must adhere to a strict definition of necessity and structure.

The Agenda Rule

• No Agenda = No Meeting: A meeting request sent without a clearly defined agenda, specific objectives, and required output is automatically rejected.
• Preparation: Materials (pre-reads, data decks) must be distributed at least 24 hours in advance. Reading during the meeting is prohibited; the time is for discussion and decision.

Time Commitment

• Punctuality: Meetings must start and end exactly on time. Waiting for late arrivals is not permitted.
• Hard Stop: If the agenda is not completed within the allotted time, the meeting must end. Remaining points must be moved to an asynchronous channel or postponed to the next scheduled synchronization. Extending meetings ad-hoc is prohibited.

Documentation and Output

A meeting is only as valuable as its recorded outcome. If the decision is not written down in the authorized system, it did not happen.

The DAO Framework

Minutes are not a transcription of the conversation; they are a log of Decisions, Actions, and Owners (DAO).

• Decisions: What was agreed upon? (e.g., "Change housing material to Aluminum 6061").
• Actions: What is the specific next step? (e.g., "Update BOM and release ECN").
• Owners: Who is responsible? (Must be a specific individual, not a department).

Storage and Traceability

• System of Record: The output must be filed immediately in the Project Tracking System (e.g., as a comment on the relevant ticket) or the Knowledge Base.
• Prohibition: Storing meeting notes solely in email or chat logs is prohibited, as these are not searchable or traceable by the wider engineering team.

Time-Zone Inclusion and Global Sync

For geographically dispersed teams (e.g., manufacturing in Asia, engineering in Europe), synchronous attendance is often impossible. The process must accommodate asynchronous participation.

• Recording Policy: All global meetings involving distributed teams must be recorded (video/audio).
• The Async Summary: The organizer is responsible for publishing the recording link and a written summary of the key takeaways immediately after the meeting.
• Inclusion Mandate: Decisions made in a meeting are provisional until the asynchronous team has had a defined window (e.g., 12 hours) to review the output and raise critical objections. This prevents "decision by time zone" bias.

Final Checklist