THE DIRECT ANSWER

Write down the decision the meeting has to reach and who owns it, the facts you hold and where each one came from, and what is still unknown and who can answer it. Then bring two questions: what you don’t know that someone in the room does, and who decides and what they need from you first. Send the facts they need beforehand, and write down each decision, its owner and its date when the meeting ends.

What decision does the meeting have to reach, and who owns it?

Start with one sentence: what has to be different when the meeting ends? A date agreed, a scope changed, access granted, a record corrected. If nothing has to be decided, say so, because a meeting that is only for information needs less preparation than one that ends in a yes or a no.

Then write who owns the decision: one name, a role, or Unknown. Mark where the name comes from: their own words, a record, or your assumption. The person who asks you for something is not always the person who can approve it. How to clarify who can decide before a work conversation stalls goes into that in more detail.

In the fictional Scope Swap case, five hours remain and a stakeholder asks you to add a comparison page that you estimate at two hours. The decision is whether two hours of agreed scope are swapped out, the request waits, or a new budget is authorized. The case says you don't know who can approve a change, so the owner on your sheet reads Unknown until someone answers that.

What facts do I hold, and where did each one come from?

For each agenda item, write the fact you hold, then mark where it came from: their words, a record, or assumed. A fact you assumed is a question to ask, not a fact to state. The mix-up is easy to make when the source looks tidy, such as a summary or a cleaned-up brief.

In the Scope Swap case the facts you hold are your own. Five hours remain, and all five are already allocated: data section 2h, recommendations section 2h and handoff 1h. A two-hour addition does not fit without a swap or more budget, and that arithmetic goes on the sheet. What the other side holds, such as who owns the scope or when the comparison is needed, stays off it, because asking is what the meeting is for.

A source can also be a tool. In the AI version of that case, Otto, the client’s fictional AI writing assistant, opens with: “Here is the tidied brief. I added a vendor comparison page.” A brief a tool tidied is not yet a record. In the case, asked “Has anyone confirmed this version of the brief?”, Otto answers: “No one yet. I drafted it.” Until someone confirms it, mark it Assumed and say in the meeting where it came from.

What don’t I know, and who can answer?

Write each unknown as a short question, and next to it the person or role who can answer it. Unknown is a useful answer: it tells you which question to bring. If you wrote a name only because that person is nearby, check it. Asking someone who cannot decide is one of the three slips the meeting prep template warns about.

The fictional Scope Swap case lists four things nobody has settled yet:

  • Who owns the agreed scope?
  • What acceptance criteria define the added request?
  • Which original item, if any, can be removed or deferred?
  • Who can authorize a new budget?

Which two questions should I bring?

Bring the same two to any meeting where you hold half the picture. The first finds the missing fact. The second finds the owner of the decision, and what that person needs from you before saying yes.

In the Scope Swap case, the case’s own versions are “What does the comparison need to show, and by when?” and “Who can approve changing the agreed scope?” Write each in the words of your meeting, short enough to answer in a sentence.

Notice what the two questions do not do. They do not ask for agreement instead of the missing fact, and they do not go to someone who cannot decide. The prep card is the one-page paper version, and the free Scope Swap scenario is a short way to try the questions on a fictional case.

  • What don't I know that someone in this meeting does?
  • Who decides this, and what do they need from me first?

What should I send beforehand?

Send the fact they need before they can decide, so it is not new in the room, and say by when you will send it. Send your half only: the numbers, a record, the agenda. Do not send an assumption as if it were a fact. Write times in 24-hour form, for example Monday 16:00, so nobody has to guess.

In the Scope Swap case the note carries the five-hour split and your two-hour estimate. It says nothing about who owns the scope, because you do not know yet.

What should I write down when the meeting ends?

Before people leave, say what was decided or proposed, who owns it and by when, and write one line for each. Leaving without an owner or a time is the third slip the template warns about. If the outcome is a proposal that someone else must approve, write it as a proposal, with that person as the owner.

The template suggests about 5 minutes before the meeting and 2 minutes after. Fill in the closing lines during the meeting if you can, so the owner and the date are written before anyone leaves.

Where can I fill this in?

The steps above are the steps of the meeting prep template, so you can follow them there line by line.

AUTHORED FICTIONAL EXAMPLE

A conversation you can rehearse

Authored fictional example, the Scope Swap case. Five hours remain: data section 2h, recommendations section 2h, handoff 1h. A stakeholder, Tomas (the requester), asks you to add a comparison page, which you estimate at 2h. You don't know why it is wanted, when it is needed, or who can approve a change. A meeting is coming, but the case gives no time for it, so the sheet says Not set yet.

A first reaction

“Can we find a few minutes to see if the comparison page can fit in?”

A more specific response

“Before we meet: the decision is whether two hours of agreed scope are swapped out, the request waits, or a new budget is authorized. Five hours remain and all five are allocated: data section 2h, recommendations section 2h, handoff 1h. My estimate for the comparison page is 2h. I don’t know yet who can approve a change, so I will ask: Who can approve changing the agreed scope? I will also ask: What does the comparison need to show, and by when? I will send this by 16:00 the day before, and at the end I will write down each decision, its owner and its date.”

The first message asks for agreement and gives the other side nothing to answer. The second names the decision, sends only the half you hold, leaves the owner as not yet known, and asks the two questions in the case’s own words, so each answer fills one box on the sheet. It does not guess who owns the scope.

Before you act

  • Write the decision in one sentence, with its owner or Unknown.
  • For each item, write the fact you hold and where it came from.
  • Write what is unknown and who can answer, or Unknown.
  • Write your two questions in the words of your meeting.
  • Send the facts they need beforehand, with a time.
  • Before people leave, write each decision, its owner and its date.

Common questions

How long does preparing take?

The template puts it at about 5 minutes before the meeting and 2 minutes after. A short meeting with one decision needs only the decision, its owner and the two questions. Add agenda items when there are more facts to track.

What if the meeting is only for information?

Say so on the decision line. Preparation is shorter: write what you want to learn and bring the first question. The second question matters when something will be agreed or approved.

What if I don't know who decides?

Write Unknown and ask the second question early, in the meeting or before it by message. Do not write a name just because the person is senior or is the one asking, and mark where any name you do write comes from.

What if one of my sources is an AI tool?

Treat what the tool wrote as Assumed until a person confirms it, and say where it came from. In the fictional Scope Swap case, Otto, a fictional AI assistant, has drafted a brief that no one has confirmed yet.

What this does not claim: the cases and the example are fictional and authored, and no measured outcome is claimed, including that preparing this way leads to a decision. Your role, your organization and the meeting itself decide who owns what.

Source basis: an original scenario-based practice framework. The example is fictional, and no external research finding or measured effectiveness is claimed. Read the editorial method.