Meetings: understanding Amazon’s six-page memo

When meetings follow one another, information moves too quickly and decisions get lost in lengthy presentations, a different way of working can help: the six-page narrative memo popularised by Amazon.

Used at Amazon for many years, the format aims to clarify thinking and improve discussion. The company’s 2017 shareholder letter describes the practice and the collective effort involved in writing a good memo.

What is the six-pager? A quiet change in meeting practice

Unlike a traditional slide presentation, the six-pager is a carefully structured narrative document of up to six pages. It generally includes:

• a clear introduction to the subject;
• objectives;
• guiding principles;
• analysis of the situation;
• key data;
• recommendations or decisions to be made.

The meeting begins with silent reading, with enough time allocated for the subject. Participants review the material before the discussion starts.

The aim is to leave less to improvisation and give the conversation more substance. Writing puts thought, clarity and structured reasoning at the centre of the decision-making process. A narrative makes the relationships between ideas explicit instead of leaving them to be inferred from slides.

Why can this method be effective? The main benefits

1. Using meeting time more effectively

A prepared document can make discussion more focused, fluent and oriented towards action. It helps a team:

• spend less time repeating explanations;
• avoid conversations without shared context;
• reach the central issue sooner.

Time saved in discussion must still be weighed against the work needed to draft and review the memo. The objective is to make better use of collective time, without assuming every meeting will become shorter.

2. Developing a deeper understanding

Narrative writing requires the author to think through the subject. An attractive slide cannot conceal a missing logical step when the argument has to be set out in complete sentences.

The important points need to be:

• argued;
• explained;
• supported with relevant figures;
• justified.

Everyone starts with access to the same document. That shared foundation makes discussion easier, although it does not guarantee identical understanding. The group can concentrate more on the decision and less on reconstructing what the subject means.

3. Improving feedback and decision-making

Once everyone has read the material, there is a stronger basis for feedback that is:

• precise;
• strategic;
• constructive.

A good memo requires rewriting and review by others. A first draft rarely makes all the arguments and choices clear enough.

The intended result is a better-informed, more robust decision that is easier to follow through, because the underlying reasoning is explicit and shared.

4. Building a culture of clarity and responsibility

The six-pager encourages an organisation to be:

• analytical;
• structured;
• demanding about the quality of its reasoning.

It places value on the strength of an argument rather than the appearance of an idea. Over time, that discipline can improve the quality of communication, reflection and spoken exchanges across a team.

The connection with public speaking at work

The memo’s value extends beyond writing. It can also support the way people speak in meetings, an important part of professional life.

Preparing and reading a structured memo helps colleagues:

• clarify their message;
• make their arguments more coherent;
• develop confidence;
• understand the context;
• anticipate questions.

That preparation can make spoken contributions:

• more concise;
• more relevant;
• more persuasive.

The six-pager therefore provides a useful form of communication practice, particularly for people who want to improve their contributions in professional meetings. Writing gives them a place to work through the reasoning before presenting or defending it aloud.

Measuring the method’s impact

Results depend on the subject, preparation and team habits. To assess whether a memo is useful in your organisation, compare several similar meetings and track:

• the total time spent preparing and meeting;
• participants’ understanding at the start of the discussion;
• the precision and usefulness of feedback;
• the number of misunderstandings and repeated explanations;
• clarity about decisions, owners and next steps;
• participants’ ability to contribute precisely.

These measures help you observe your own progress. They are not a promise of a fixed improvement that applies to every organisation.

A simple tool with wider possibilities

Amazon’s six-pager is more than a document format. It can support leadership, decision-making and communication.

Its intended benefits include:

• improving the quality of meetings;
• strengthening professional speaking;
• supporting cooperation;
• making better use of time.

For organisations seeking to work more effectively, the method offers a practical way to connect careful writing with useful discussion. Its value comes from the quality of the preparation and how the team uses the resulting document.

Read the original source

Amazon’s 2017 Letter to Shareholders: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/2017-letter-to-shareholders.