October 13, 2006 at 12:58How are meetings held at Google?
Vice President Marissa Mayer holds an average of 70 meetings a week. This is not surprising, because it plays the role of the main intermediary between numerous Google development teams and the company's management. Sergey Brin and Larry Page meet with Marissa every day.
In companies such as Google, it is during the meetings that many important issues are resolved, the development process is monitored and employees are motivated. Meetings are very important, and their effectiveness is a critical factor. Marissa Mayer names six rules that must be followed in order to conduct a successful rally.
1. A clear plan. The meeting schedule should be agreed some time before it starts. A schedule is a kind of agreement between the meeting participants about what exactly they are going to discuss and how to do it in a minimum amount of time. The plan, although subject to change, should be clear.
2. Abstract writing. Google meetings use multiple screens to improve performance. Next to the main projector there is an additional one that displays the current abstract of the meeting. There is a third screen - a ticking clock, a timer that counts the time until the end of the meeting. The current abstract of the meeting should be written down by a special person, and Google’s leadership insists on the stenographic accuracy of these abstracts. These “white papers” can then be sent out to those who missed the meeting, and also presented to management.
3. Micro-meetings. As part of lengthy meetings, a series of short-term sessions of 5-10 minutes on specific topics can be organized. Such a “modular” structure of the meeting makes it easy to change the plan of the event if such a need arises. The fact is that in the calendar of Marissa Mayer, the minimum periods of time have a duration of 30 minutes. It’s hard to wedge into such a schedule. The only way out is 10 minute blocks.
4. Individual reception. Every day after 16:00, Marissa Mayer receives visitors from among the employees for 90 minutes. These are small face-to-face meetings where you can solve current issues without a preliminary schedule. Employees come to the vice president to agree on the design of the program or, for example, to share their own interesting developments. It was at the reception at Marissa that such projects as Google News , Orkut and Google Desktop were first shown and approved . In an hour and a half, Marissa Mayer manages to hold up to fifteen meetings.
5. No policy, only data. This thesis implies that any decision must be clearly reasoned, and in no case be taken under the influence of personal sympathies or antipathies. Marissa Mayer disapproves of the use of “Like” phrases at design meetings. Instead of expressing personal preferences, you need to conduct appropriate research and find out which design is more effective.
6. The giant timer . A large clock on the wall should create some psychological pressure on the meeting participants. The timer counts the time remaining until the end of the meeting.
By the way, many of these rules are used not only by Google. For example, at a recent Yahoo! Open hack daymore than fifty hackers made small demonstrations of their developments, with each having 90 seconds of time, and the timer counted the time on the wall. Such a system is really very effective.
In companies such as Google, it is during the meetings that many important issues are resolved, the development process is monitored and employees are motivated. Meetings are very important, and their effectiveness is a critical factor. Marissa Mayer names six rules that must be followed in order to conduct a successful rally.
1. A clear plan. The meeting schedule should be agreed some time before it starts. A schedule is a kind of agreement between the meeting participants about what exactly they are going to discuss and how to do it in a minimum amount of time. The plan, although subject to change, should be clear.
2. Abstract writing. Google meetings use multiple screens to improve performance. Next to the main projector there is an additional one that displays the current abstract of the meeting. There is a third screen - a ticking clock, a timer that counts the time until the end of the meeting. The current abstract of the meeting should be written down by a special person, and Google’s leadership insists on the stenographic accuracy of these abstracts. These “white papers” can then be sent out to those who missed the meeting, and also presented to management.
3. Micro-meetings. As part of lengthy meetings, a series of short-term sessions of 5-10 minutes on specific topics can be organized. Such a “modular” structure of the meeting makes it easy to change the plan of the event if such a need arises. The fact is that in the calendar of Marissa Mayer, the minimum periods of time have a duration of 30 minutes. It’s hard to wedge into such a schedule. The only way out is 10 minute blocks.
4. Individual reception. Every day after 16:00, Marissa Mayer receives visitors from among the employees for 90 minutes. These are small face-to-face meetings where you can solve current issues without a preliminary schedule. Employees come to the vice president to agree on the design of the program or, for example, to share their own interesting developments. It was at the reception at Marissa that such projects as Google News , Orkut and Google Desktop were first shown and approved . In an hour and a half, Marissa Mayer manages to hold up to fifteen meetings.
5. No policy, only data. This thesis implies that any decision must be clearly reasoned, and in no case be taken under the influence of personal sympathies or antipathies. Marissa Mayer disapproves of the use of “Like” phrases at design meetings. Instead of expressing personal preferences, you need to conduct appropriate research and find out which design is more effective.
6. The giant timer . A large clock on the wall should create some psychological pressure on the meeting participants. The timer counts the time remaining until the end of the meeting.
By the way, many of these rules are used not only by Google. For example, at a recent Yahoo! Open hack daymore than fifty hackers made small demonstrations of their developments, with each having 90 seconds of time, and the timer counted the time on the wall. Such a system is really very effective.