A look inside the workbook
What it is and what it is for
The weekly leadership meeting is the control point for execution: check the numbers, confirm priorities, resolve the issues that block progress and leave with clear decisions. This agenda gives the meeting a fixed structure with timings per block, a quick metrics and priorities review, an issues list, a decisions and actions log and a parking lot for what does not fit this week. The PDF version is ready to print or share on screen.
Who uses it and when
CEOs, founders and leadership teams of three to ten people. Whoever facilitates the meeting, often the CEO, COO or chief of staff, prepares the agenda and keeps the log. Each member arrives with updated metrics and the issues they need to bring to the team.
Every week, on the same day and at the same time, with a fixed length of sixty to ninety minutes. Send the agenda and the numbers the day before. Review the meeting format once a quarter.
How to use the template
- 1.Fix the day, time, length and facilitator. The meeting starts and ends on time, even when someone is missing.
- 2.Adjust the timing of each agenda block to your team. Keep the metrics and priorities review short: it is there to spot problems, not to discuss them.
- 3.Ask each member to update their metrics and add their issues to the list before the meeting.
- 4.In the main block, work through issues in order of importance. For each one, find the cause, decide and log the action with an owner and a date.
- 5.Move anything that cannot be resolved in this meeting to the parking lot and decide when it comes back to the agenda.
- 6.Close by reading back the decisions and actions logged. Next week, start by checking whether the actions were done.
Data access and limitations
The decisions log may hold sensitive information about people, customers or finances; share it only with those who attend. The agenda does not replace preparation: without updated numbers, the meeting slides back into a round of status updates. The Marés Altas example is fictional and the suggested timings are a starting point, not a benchmark. The file contains no macros.
Common questions
How long should a weekly leadership meeting be?
Sixty to ninety minutes is a common starting point. More important than the length is that it is fixed, starts on time and ends with recorded decisions.
How do we stop the meeting becoming a round of status updates?
Send numbers and updates before the meeting and keep the review to a few minutes. The main time is for resolving the issues on the list, one at a time, until there is a decision.
What is the parking lot for?
For important topics that do not fit this meeting or need preparation first. Each item in the parking lot should have an owner and a date to return to the agenda.
References and use
These are practical Operating by Design resources. Suggested cadences and quantities are starting points, not universal standards. References consulted on 16 October 2026:
- Harvard Business Review · Stop the Meeting Madness
- Harvard Business Review · Mastering the Management System
Adapt the workbook for internal use in your organisation. Preserve the source attribution. Avoid unnecessary personal data.
From template to implementation
If the challenge needs more than a template, leadership alignment and a cadence that holds, see how we implement this with teams.
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