Never Leave a Meeting Without Documentation (My Offsite Lesson)

Here’s another lesson I learned the hard way: Never leave a meeting without something written down.

The Offsite That Wasn’t Written Down

We organized an offsite because remote discussions weren’t cutting it—the issue was too complex. During the two-day offsite, we brainstormed with the team, discussed multiple ideas, explored various options.

When I returned, everything was clear to me. All the options, what was possible, what wasn’t—it all made sense.

Then, a few days later, we started discussing again: “Hey, maybe this option is still feasible…”

Wait, what? We already discussed this. Why are we going in circles?

To be honest, I was frustrated. Initially, it felt like a waste of time. But then we had another meeting—this time we were candid and open with each other.

The outcome? Honestly, it wasn’t in the best format. Perfection isn’t the goal here—and that’s something I had to learn.

The Real Problem

Here’s what I realized: We spent two days at the offsite discussing everything, but we never wrote anything down. That was the mistake.

We just repeated what was already clear to me. But now, with documentation, the difference was that we were all aligned. We were all aware. We could return to the document.

My Recommendation for PMs

If you’re a PM (or anyone running meetings), here’s what I suggest:

During Meetings

• Share your screen with a Google Doc (you don’t need fancy tools)
• Write as you discuss
• Get agreement on what you wrote

This applies to both remote meetings and in-person offsites.

After Day One (For Multi-Day Meetings)

Wake up a bit early and do a recap with your team:

“Okay team, yesterday we agreed on X, Y, Z. Are we still on the same page?”

This literally changes everything.

Divergent vs. Convergent Thinking

You might be familiar with the different phases of thinking:

• Divergent phase: We discuss multiple ideas, brainstorm, explore
• Convergent phase: We narrow down, decide, commit

Diverging is amazing—we create lots of ideas. But at some point, you need to converge. Write down the convergent phase. Agree on it.

Otherwise, you’ll keep discussing endlessly without making decisions.

The Company That Only Discussed

I remember working at another company where we discussed, and discussed, and discussed—but never made decisions. It was incredibly frustrating.

The Core Lesson

Never leave a meeting without something written down that everyone has agreed to.

This prevents:

• ❌ Misunderstandings
• ❌ Time being wasted on repeated discussions
• ❌ Asynchronous confusion later

This enables:

• ✅ Alignment across the team
• ✅ Clear decisions
• ✅ Reference points for future discussions

Good luck convincing your stakeholders and debating with them—but at some point, make a decision (and write it down). Hopefully, it’ll be the right one for you and your company.