Pre-Read Memo
This page explains Pre-Read Memo and its relevance to business operations.
D08 - Meeting Design Quality
Definition
A written document distributed before a meeting containing the constraints requiring resolution, relevant data, and a defined decision request that allows participants to arrive ready to decide rather than arriving ready to be informed.
A meeting that starts with a status update is a meeting that wastes its first 20 minutes.
The pre-read memo moves information sharing out of the meeting and into preparation time, which is always cheaper per attendee, and converts the meeting itself into a decision-making session.
Indicators
- Recurring operational meetings typically begin with status updates rather than decisions.
- No written document is shared before your most important recurring meeting.
- Participants arrive to your meetings unprepared to make decisions because the relevant information isn't shared in advance.
Quick Win
- For your next recurring meeting, write and send a one-paragraph pre-read that covers the specific constraint preventing progress, the relevant data, and the single decision the meeting needs to produce.
- Notice the changes in your meeting.
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