Meeting Agenda Formats for Weekly Check-Ins

We are in Month 3, running Workzone on the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) - a set of frameworks that govern how a company operates. Among the many practical tools, one of my personal favorites has been the "Weekly Leadership Meeting" structure. To set some context, most Leadership Weeklies are guilty of one or more of the following: ❌ No clear agenda or cadence aka lacking intentionality ❌ Lots of discussions but no clear path forward ❌ Cramming in a lot on the agenda, only to end mid-way ❌ Struggling to balance tactical with strategic ❌ Tendency to work on the urgent but not the important ❌ Personal agenda over company agenda ❌ Power dynamics leading the course versus the needs ❌ Lack of collective clarity around the state of the business and where it's headed EOS eliminates all of the above by putting in place a weekly cadence combined with a structured agenda that actually helps the leadership team move the needle every single week! Here's how we have it structured at Workzone: We have 6 folks on the Leadership team each heading different departments. We meet for 90 minutes every Tuesday morning and here's how the agenda flows: 1. 𝗦𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗲 (𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀): Each individual shares their professional best and personal best for the past week. The goal is to check in with each other and begin on a positive note.     2. 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱 (𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀): These are 15 core metrics that reflect the state of the business and are updated religiously before the meeting. (e.g. MRR, Pipeline, NRR, EBITDA, AR, # of code deployments, Platform uptime, etc)     3. 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 (𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀): 90-day goals for the business (max 7) and whether they are on track or off track.     4. 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 (𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀): Any important customer or employee headlines that everyone needs to be aware of.     5. 𝗧𝗼-𝗱𝗼𝘀 (𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀): Status of the action items from the last meeting.        N͟o͟t͟e͟: All of the above are broadcasts aimed at getting up to speed on the items. There are no discussions happening yet - that's all done in the next section. So if someone wants to discuss a headline item, they simply "IDS" it.     6. 𝗜𝗗𝗦 (𝟲𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀): Issue-Discussion-Solve.        This is where the magic happens! It forms the majority of the meeting and is aimed at advancing key projects and/or solving the biggest challenges that need multiple leadership team members to be involved.        The key is to clearly identify the root cause of the issue before jumping to discussion / solution. Action items go to To-dos.     7. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲 (𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀): The To-dos are reviewed, and clear timelines are set. The meeting concludes with everyone rating it on a scale of 10 and pointing out what could improve. Average of 8+ is ideal. This structure has been a game changer for us at Workzone, resulting in a solid operating rhythm, tighter alignment, and momentum every week across the company. More on effective org tools soon!

How to Run the Best Team Meeting Ever – MPL Style At The Modern People Leader, we have a weekly cadence called the L10 meeting. Inspired by the L10 meeting format from EOS and Gino Wickman's "Traction," we've crafted our unique MPL Meeting Template that we use. Whether it’s for your People team, leadership team, or both, I think that any team would benefit from testing it out. _____ Here are the key elements we cover in 60-minutes: Good News Stories (5 mins): We start every meeting highlighting positive personal or professional news. This sets an upbeat tone and starts every meeting in a very human way. Team Recognition (5 mins): We share “kudos” for help and wins from the past week. Week Ahead Planning (15 mins): We align on priorities and divide up key projects to prevent duplication and gaps. All work for the upcoming week is assigned out in our project management tool. Metrics Review (15 mins): We analyze 2-3 weekly metrics by business function to spot trends and course correct. For us, these are things like total plays for the week, newsletter growth, sales pipeline, and new revenue. If you’re doing this on a weekly basis, you’ll be able to tell a compelling narrative around progress and ROI of programs. Collective Intelligence (15 mins): We tackle big ideas and decisions by tapping our collective wisdom. There are usually 2-3 big actions that come out of this section every week. Rate the meeting (2-3 mins): Everyone rates the meeting and gives a reason. This is our way of giving ourselves live feedback. We hold ourselves accountable for sticking to the agenda, showing up on time, and wrapping up on time. It’s also a good indicator of how we’re feeling about the business that week. _____ We’ve been able to build a 6-figure business in under 12 months, and I attribute much of the momentum we've built to these weekly meetings. They’re simple and keep us laser focused. It ensures that we're driven by a shared vision rather than individual agendas. _____ A couple more pro tips: Create an L-10 meeting doc AND spreadsheet: Your L-10 meeting doc is where you can take meeting notes and the spreadsheet is where you can track the core metrics that are the most important to your team. Rotate ownership of the meeting every week: The owner should be responsible for updating the metrics and the L-10 doc ahead of time, and for keeping time during the meeting. Do your team meetings feel unproductive? Try running your next one MPL style. What team meeting formats have worked best for you?

One change that’s sparked remarkable improvements at Launch Potato: A new action-oriented meeting agenda. Here’s the breakdown of our EOS-inspired framework: 1. Ice Breaker (5 min) Starting with an ice breaker sets the tone for the meeting. It helps to shake up nerves and get the energy flowing between team members. Change it up every week to keep things fresh. 2. Quote of the Week Incorporate a motivational quote to inspire the team. We recently pulled this one from the famous football coach Vince Lombardi: "It's not whether you get knocked down. It's whether you get up." 3. Scorecard/Metrics (5 min) Review key metrics. If something’s off track, note the issues to be addressed. 4. Customer Headlines (5 min) Share customer stories, both positive and negative. Drop the negatives into the issues list for discussion later in the meeting. 5. Review Action Items from Last Week Quickly go through the previous week’s action items. If something isn’t yet completed, add it to the issues list. 6. Issues / Opportunities (60 min) This is where the magic happens. Spend the bulk of the meeting solving the biggest problems and sizing up opportunities that will move the business forward. Why This Agenda Works • Clarity and Leadership Everyone knows the agenda and their role in it. Clear leadership ensures issues are resolved quickly. • Action-Oriented Problems are identified, discussed, and solved promptly. No more long-winded discussions that go nowhere. • Productivity and Satisfaction We have seen a significant increase in revenue and team happiness since implementing this structure. The team feels more productive and less stressed. Outcomes - Enhanced productivity - Less stress - Quick resolution of issues - Continuous forward momentum Implement this structure in your meetings, whether remote or in-person, and watch your team’s efficiency and morale take off. Ready to transform your meetings?