Every meeting has a purpose—or at least it should. Yet most companies default to the same tired format for every gathering: sit around a table, talk about stuff, leave confused about next steps. No wonder people hate meetings.
The truth is different objectives require different meeting types. A brainstorming session needs different structure than a decision-making meeting. A project retrospective works differently than a weekly check-in. When you match meeting type to purpose, magic happens.
The Weekly Workhorse: Level 10 Meetings
Your Level 10 meeting is the backbone of EOS execution. Same time, same agenda, same discipline every single week. This isn’t where you brainstorm or strategize—it’s where you execute and solve problems.
The Level 10 Meeting™ structure works because it respects focus. Good news builds energy. Scorecard review provides data. Rock review ensures progress. Headlines surface concerns. IDS solves real issues. To-Dos create accountability. Ninety minutes of pure execution.
Track your L10 effectiveness in EOS One. Meeting ratings below 8? That’s an issue to solve. Off-track Rocks piling up? Your meeting needs work. The L10 isn’t just a meeting—it’s your operating system in action.
Never skip, never delay, never compromise the agenda. The moment you treat L10s as optional, discipline crumbles. Protect this meeting like your business depends on it. Because it does.
The Development Driver: One-on-Ones
Group meetings drive business forward. One-on-ones develop people. Schedule weekly or biweekly time with each direct report. Not for status updates—your L10 handles that. For growth, coaching, and obstacle removal.
Start personal. What’s happening in their life? Energy level? Concerns? Then dive into development. What skills need building? What experiences would help? What barriers need removing? This is coaching, not managing.
Use EOS One to track development commitments separately from L10 To-Dos. “Shadow three sales calls” or “Complete leadership assessment” are personal growth actions, not business tasks. Both matter, but don’t conflate them.
The quarterly variant goes deeper. Review performance against seat requirements. Discuss career aspirations. Plan next steps. These aren’t annual reviews spread out—they’re ongoing development conversations that prevent annual surprises.
The Strategic Shifter: Quarterly Planning
Every 90 days, shift gears. Quarterly planning isn’t a bigger L10—it’s a different animal entirely. You’re not solving weekly issues. You’re setting direction, aligning resources, and preparing for what’s ahead.
Block a full day. No exceptions. Get offsite if possible. Start by reviewing last quarter’s Rocks completely. What worked? What didn’t? Why? This retrospective learning improves future planning.
Set next quarter’s Rocks with brutal prioritization. Everything can’t be most important. Use your V/TO as the filter. Does this Rock move us toward our 1-Year Plan? Our 3-year picture? If not, it waits.
Document everything in EOS One immediately. Rocks, owners, success criteria. Don’t leave planning with vague intentions. Leave with specific commitments tracked in your system. Clarity in planning creates confidence in execution.
The Vision Validator: Annual Planning
Once yearly, go deep on direction. Annual planning revalidates everything. Market changes, team evolves, opportunities emerge. Your V/TO needs fresh eyes annually to stay relevant and inspiring.
Two days minimum. Full leadership team. Start with team health—you can’t plan a year with people you don’t trust. Then examine every element of your V/TO. Still the right target? Still the right niche? Still the right values?
This isn’t just planning—it’s recommitment. Everyone needs to re-enroll in the vision. Challenge assumptions. Debate direction. Emerge aligned. Document updates in EOS One so everyone sees the evolution.
Create the Rock roadmap for the year. Not detailed Rocks—that’s quarterly work. But themes. Q1 might focus on sales infrastructure. Q2 on product development. Q3 on market expansion. Q4 on operational efficiency. This roadmap guides quarterly planning.
The Culture Creator: State of the Company
After every planning session, cascade communication. State of the Company meetings transform leadership decisions into organizational understanding. Without this translation, even brilliant strategy fails in execution.
Keep it to 90 minutes. Attention fades after that. Share real performance data from Scorecards. Explain the why behind new Rocks. Celebrate Core Value champions. Make strategy real through stories and examples.
Use EOS One data for credibility. “Our customer satisfaction score hit 92%, exceeding our Rock target of 90%.” Specific numbers build trust. Vague pronouncements breed skepticism. Let data tell the story.
Always include Q&A. Real Q&A, not planted questions. Hard questions mean engagement. Address them honestly. Track question themes—they reveal what needs better communication or different decisions.
The Performance Partner: Quarterly Conversations
Annual reviews are autopsies—interesting but too late to help. Quarterly conversations keep performance alive and improving. These aren’t mini-reviews. They’re development discussions with different depth than weekly one-on-ones.
Review seat fit systematically. Use the Accountability Chart. Are they delivering on each accountability? Where are they excelling? Where are they struggling? This isn’t judgment—it’s clarity for growth.
Connect performance to Rocks and Scorecard metrics. Quantitative data prevents subjective assessments. “You’ve hit your number 11 of 13 weeks” carries more weight than “You’re doing pretty well.” Let EOS tools provide objective foundation.
Plan next quarter’s development. Maybe they need training. Perhaps different experiences. Possibly adjusted accountabilities. Create specific development Rocks. Growth shouldn’t be hoped for—it should be planned and tracked like any business objective.
The Connection Catalyst: Company Offsite
All business, no bonding builds fragile companies. Annual offsites create connections that daily work can’t. This isn’t forced fun with trust falls. It’s intentional relationship building that strengthens your organization.
Mix business and personal. Maybe morning strategic discussions and afternoon team activities. Share origin stories. Celebrate milestones. Build memories. Strong relationships make tough business conversations possible.
Use offsites to reinforce culture viscerally. Don’t just talk about Core Values—live them through activities. If “Adventure” is a value, go do something adventurous together. Experience beats explanation.
Document insights in EOS One as Headlines. Personal connections discovered. Team dynamics observed. Cultural strengths recognized. These soft insights inform hard business decisions throughout the year.
The Learning Laboratory: Project Retrospectives
Every project ends. Few generate learning. Project retrospectives extract wisdom from experience. Not blame sessions—learning laboratories. What worked? What didn’t? What will we do differently?
Schedule retrospectives before the project fully ends. Memories fade fast. While details remain fresh, gather the team. Use structured questions. Capture insights systematically. This isn’t venting—it’s improvement.
Create retrospective Rocks from learnings. “Document client onboarding process” might emerge from a painful project start. “Implement project communication standards” could prevent future confusion. Learning without application wastes opportunity.
Track retrospective themes in your Scorecard. Which issues surface repeatedly? Those become systemic improvements, not project patches. Use EOS discipline to transform project learning into organizational capability.
The Innovation Incubator: Working Sessions
Not every gathering should follow rigid structure. Working sessions break the meeting mold. Get the right people in a room with a specific deliverable. Maybe it’s process design, problem solving, or creative development.
These aren’t brainstorming free-for-alls. Define the desired outcome clearly. “Leave with new pricing model outlined” beats “discuss pricing.” Time-box activities. Use visual tools. Create energy through interaction.
Convert working session outputs into Rocks or To-Dos immediately. Great ideas without implementation plans die quickly. Use EOS One to assign owners and deadlines before enthusiasm fades.
Reserve working sessions for true creative needs. Don’t use them to avoid disciplined meeting structure elsewhere. They complement, not replace, your regular Meeting Pulse.
Matching Meeting to Moment
The power comes from picking the right tool for the job. Need weekly execution? L10. Quarterly direction? Planning session. People development? One-on-ones. Cultural alignment? State of the Company.
Document your Meeting Pulse in EOS One. Who meets when for what purpose? This clarity prevents meeting proliferation. When someone suggests a new meeting, ask: which existing meeting could handle this?
Track meeting effectiveness across types. Maybe your L10s rock but quarterly planning struggles. Perhaps one-on-ones thrive but retrospectives flop. Use data to improve each meeting type systematically.
The Compound Effect of Structure
Meeting discipline compounds. Each good L10 makes the next better. Strong quarterly planning improves annual sessions. Regular one-on-ones prevent performance surprises. Structure creates momentum.
Your meeting rhythm becomes competitive advantage. While competitors waste time in pointless gatherings, you’re executing with precision. While they wonder what was decided, you have it tracked in EOS One.
Stop treating all meetings the same. Start matching meeting type to purpose. Use the right tool for each job. Watch how clarity of purpose transforms meeting effectiveness. Because when meetings work, everything works better.
Pick one meeting type that’s struggling in your organization. Apply focused discipline for one quarter. Use EOS One to track improvements. Once that meeting type hits its stride, move to the next. Meeting by meeting, build an execution engine that drives results.
