Action-or-Async Meeting Rule
Reserve meetings for shared action and move routine updates async
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 94%
The Action-or-Async Meeting Rule classifies collaboration by purpose. If the purpose is only to communicate an update, the information moves to an asynchronous format such as a Loom recording or written note. If participants need to solve a problem, review work together, make a decision, or directly produce an artifact, the interaction remains synchronous. One-on-ones can also remain because their relational and developmental value may exceed simple information transfer. This decision rule shifts meetings from passive reporting toward active progress. Each proposed meeting must therefore name the action it enables; otherwise it should be converted, shortened, or removed. The model can reduce meeting load and preserve longer work blocks, but it requires reliable async habits and must not be applied mechanically to conversations that depend on nuance, trust, or immediate feedback.
Origin
Extracted from Marketing Against The Grain during the host's explanation of his preferred meeting model.
Core principles
- 01Use synchronous time to perform work, not merely report it
- 02Move routine status updates to asynchronous channels
- 03Keep one-on-ones when human conversation adds value
- 04Judge meetings by the action or problem they advance
How to run it
- 1
Identify the interaction's purpose
Determine whether the session exists to share information, make a decision, solve a problem, maintain a relationship, or produce work.
Pro tip Write the intended outcome as a completed action.
- 2
Route updates async
Move routine progress reports and information transfers into a written update, dashboard, or recorded Loom.
Pro tip Use a consistent template that highlights changes, risks, and requested decisions.
Watch out Async updates fail when recipients cannot find or interpret them.
- 3
Preserve action-based meetings
Keep synchronous time when participants must work through an issue, inspect something together, or make a decision.
Pro tip Open the meeting directly on the artifact or problem being worked on.
- 4
Protect valuable one-on-ones
Retain one-on-ones where coaching, trust, alignment, or sensitive discussion benefits from live conversation.
Pro tip Send routine status information before the one-on-one so the live time can go deeper.
Watch out Do not remove relational conversations merely because they lack a concrete deliverable.
- 5
Review recurring sessions
Periodically test whether every recurring meeting still produces action that could not happen asynchronously.
Pro tip Cancel the next occurrence as an experiment when the case for meeting is weak.
In the wild
A team has a weekly meeting devoted largely to project updates. The owner records a short Loom covering progress, metrics, and blockers before the scheduled time. The live session is retained only when teammates need to resolve a blocker or make a decision together.
→ Routine updates consume less synchronous time while important collaborative work still happens live.
Common mistakes
Making every interaction asynchronous
Sensitive, relational, or ambiguous issues may require live conversation even when no immediate artifact is produced.
Keeping update meetings by habit
A recurring slot should not survive merely because it already exists; require a clear action that needs synchronous participation.
Sending unstructured async updates
Long or unclear recordings simply relocate meeting overhead, so make updates concise and decision-oriented.
Is it for you?
Best for
Teams with enough written or recorded communication discipline to consume routine updates asynchronously.
Not ideal for
Teams facing sensitive interpersonal issues, unclear written communication, or urgent coordination that requires real-time discussion.
From the transcript
“I, for the most part, want all meetings to be action based and everything else to be async.”
“If that's like updates, I try to get it async via Loom.”
“And then everything else we do together is kind of actually doing work.”
From the episode
I Stole Microsoft CEO’s 4 Most Powerful AI Prompts