Who takes the notes this time

It was a Wednesday, and the weekly sync was about to start. I had the agenda ready, but we were one person over the ideal number for a focused discussion. I needed to decide who would join, and who could skip it to focus on their deep work.

The moment before the calendar invite

I pulled up everyone's schedules side-by-side. Sarah had a client call ending five minutes before our meeting, and Mark was in back-to-back interviews all afternoon. It wasn't just about availability, though. It was about whose input we really needed to move forward.I remembered last month when we automatically included the whole project team. The conversation got sidetracked, and the two people who actually had the updates couldn't get a word in. It felt inefficient, almost wasteful of everyone's time.

Finding a rhythm that doesn't feel personal

Assigning tasks like note-taking or facilitation can sometimes land with a sigh. You don't want the same few people to always feel like they're on the hook. It's a small thing, but over time, those small things add up to how people feel about team meetings.I started thinking about rotation, but in a way that accounted for workload. It couldn't be a rigid system. Someone who just presented last week shouldn't necessarily be tapped again. It had to have a bit of give.

A list on my screen

I made a quick list of factors: recent contributions, current project phase, even who had spoken least in the last few meetings. It wasn't scientific, but it was fair.

The quiet relief of a method

When I mentioned using a simple wheel to pick, there was a noticeable shift. The tension of 'being chosen' evaporated. It was just the luck of the spin, no favorites, no hidden agenda.