Andrew Grove

What is the medium of a manager’s forecast? It is something very simple: his calendar.

value of an administrative procedure is contained not in formal statements but in the real thinking that led to its establishment

meeting is nothing less than the medium through which managerial work is performed

The two basic managerial roles produce two basic kinds of meetings. In the first kind of meeting, called a process-oriented meeting, knowledge is shared and information is exchanged. Such meetings take place on a regularly scheduled basis. The purpose of the second kind of meeting is to solve a specific problem. Meetings of this sort, called mission-oriented, frequently produce a decision. They are ad hoc affairs, not scheduled long in advance, because they usually can’t be.

At Intel we use three kinds of process-oriented meetings: the one-on-one, the staff meeting, and the operation review

A key point about a one-on-one: It should be regarded as the subordinate’s meeting, with its agenda and tone set by him.

What should be covered in a one-on-one? We can start with performance figures, indicators used by the subordinate, such as incoming order rates, production output, or project status

meeting should also cover anything important that has happened since the last meeting: current hiring problems, people problems in general, organizational problems and future plans, and—very, very important—potential problems.

The good time users among managers do not talk to their subordinates about their problems but they know how to make the subordinates talk about theirs.

The absolute truth is that if you don’t know what you want, you won’t get it. So before calling a meeting, ask yourself: What am I trying to accomplish? Then ask, is a meeting necessary? Or desirable? Or justifiable? Don’t call a meeting if all the answers aren’t yes.