THE 25/50 MANIFESTO
Six principles for meetings that respect people
Meetings should be a tool for decisions, not a performance of busyness. These six principles guide the 25/50 commitment.
- 1 Meeting time is a shared team resource, not private calendar territory.
Every meeting you schedule costs the collective focus of everyone invited. Treat that time as something borrowed, not owned.
- 2 Default to 25 and 50.
Replace 30-minute meetings with 25 and 60-minute meetings with 50. The saved minutes aren't wasted. They're where real work happens.
- 3 Every meeting must declare purpose and outcome before it starts.
No agenda, no meeting. If you can't articulate what the meeting will produce, it shouldn't exist.
- 4 Start on time. End early by design.
Respect the people who showed up prepared. Ending early isn't cutting it short — it's giving time back.
- 5 If no clear outcome is needed, don't meet — communicate asynchronously.
Status updates, FYIs, and information sharing rarely need a live audience. Write it down.
- 6 Protect transition time as real work time.
Think, document, prepare, breathe. The space between meetings is where follow-through lives.