Meeting Guidelines

These guidelines help us run focused, productive meetings for both internal and external.

Fundamentals

We're careful about when we meet:

No meetings on Mondays - Start the week with focus time Wednesdays for internal talks - We keep Wednesdays for team discussions Weekly Sync - Quick team alignment Weekly NSFW - Non-work chat time to connect Bi-weekly Team Updates - Cross-team information sharing

Meeting Titles

For Internal Meetings

• Be specific - Use clear, detailed titles that explain the purpose (e.g., "Q1 Marketing Plan Feedback" not "Marketing Discussion")
• Use brand-meeting format - In external meetings, use a simple format as "[Brand Name] | Hardal - Intro" or "[Brand Name] | Hardal - Next Steps"
• Add detailed description - Include context, goals, and topics to be covered
• Set expectations - Clearly state what you want to achieve in this meeting

Here is a good example: https://res.cloudinary.com/hardal/image/upload/v1741810682/cdpybvofppdkh34odijl.png

Who to Invite

• Keep it small - 3-5 people for decisions, max 8-10 for other meetings
• Invite only people needed - If someone only needs part of the info, send meeting notes
• Remember the timezones - Check if your meeting time works for everyone
• Invite optional for bonus - Add someone as "optional" if coming to the meeting brings a huge bonus
• Minimum Hardal people - Limit to 2-3 Hardal team members unless needed

Pre-Meeting

• Share agenda 24h before - List topics, questions, and desired outcomes
• Include relevant docs - Share links to necessary context or background info
• Set expectations - Note of goal and expectations
• For external meetings:
  • Research the company, and attendees and check previous interactions
  • Have a goal for the meeting that is known to all Hardal attendees

Post-Meeting

• Add a notetaker AI - We use tl;dv but ask beforehand
• Share notes within 24 hours:
  • Put notes in Linear or Hubspot
  • Send notes to external people within 24 hours
  • Send a small Slack message to update everyone

Here is a good example:

Subject: Nike | Hardal - Next Steps 

Hi all,

Thank you for today's meeting. To summarize, we reviewed Nike's current tracking challenges, and how Hardal can tackle them to provide a better data tracking and managing system to increase ROI in Nike's marketing channels. 

For next steps, here are the to-dos:

Nike Team:
- Current website and app volume will be shared
- The meeting notes will be shared with the Tech team and will be included in the next meeting

Hardal Team:
- Work on a pricing doc after the volume is shared
- Send the necessary access needs for implementing Hardal Signals 1 Month POC.

Our next meeting is planned on next week Tuesday, March 25 at 10:00 AM to review progress.

Let me know if you have any questions and you can find our deck attached!

Best,
Barış

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Meeting Do's and Don'ts

Do's✅	Don'ts❌
Start and end on time	Run over the scheduled time
Have a clear purpose	Start without an agenda
Keep discussion focused	Invite people who don't need to be there
Give everyone a chance to speak	Turn it into a monolouge
End with clear next steps	Leave without documenting decisions
Try to have it in the mornings	Schedule meetings on Mondays

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Remember: The best meeting is often the one you didn't need to have. Always ask if your goal could be achieved without one instead.