A Meeting Without Slides

Before a planning meeting, Jordan spent an hour preparing slides. He included charts, project updates, and a list of possible ideas. During the meeting, however, most of the time went into explaining the slides. The team left without deciding which idea to try first.

For the next meeting, Jordan sent a short document the day before. It described one decision the team needed to make, two possible choices, and the information still missing. Everyone could read it in advance. At the meeting, they spent five minutes asking questions, then compared the two choices.

They selected a small trial and agreed who would run it. Jordan did not conclude that slides were always useless. A visual presentation could still help explain a complicated process. In this case, though, the meeting needed a decision more than a performance. Preparing less material had created more room for discussion.