Trade the status meeting for a short update

A status meeting gathers people together to say things that could have been written down. A short update is the same information, shared in writing, that people read on their own time without pulling everyone into a room.

Founders keep status meetings around out of habit long after they stopped earning their place on the calendar. Meanwhile, the actual conversations worth having in person get squeezed for time because the calendar is full of updates nobody needed to hear live. A written update also gives people a record they can reread later, which a meeting never does. I replaced my own routine status meeting with a short written update, and I keep the room full of people for the one conversation that genuinely needs it.

Try this today: cancel your next routine status meeting and replace it with a short written update instead. Save the meeting time for the one real conversation that actually needs a room full of people, and see how much less your week feels like waiting for your turn to talk.