What is the PALM Meeting Technique?
PALM is a straightforward framework designed to transform meetings from drawn-out discussion forums into focused decision engines. It addresses the four critical elements that most meetings lack:
Purpose
What do you want the meeting to achieve? (Note: "achieve" not "discuss".)
Most meetings fail because they're framed around topics to discuss rather than outcomes to achieve. By defining a clear purpose focused on tangible results, you immediately shift the meeting's trajectory.
Agenda
What decisions need to be made to achieve the purpose? (Note: "decisions", not "discussion topics".)
Traditional agendas list topics, which invite open-ended conversation without clear endpoints. By framing agenda items as decisions to be made, you create natural closure points and focus the conversation.
Limit
What's the maximum time you'll allow?
Meetings expand to fill the time allotted. By setting shorter time limits than you think necessary, you create productive pressure that eliminates unnecessary tangents and social loitering.
Minimum
What's the smallest number of people we need there? (Note: not "who else can we invite?".)
Research shows that each additional participant beyond the essential reduces decision velocity by approximately 10%. By limiting attendance to those who are genuinely needed, you increase the likelihood of reaching decisions.
The Problem with Traditional Meetings
Traditional corporate meetings suffer from several critical flaws that waste time, energy, and organizational resources:
37% of Meeting Time is Wasted
According to research by Harvard Business Review, more than a third of meeting time is spent on activities that don't advance the intended purpose.
$37,000 Annual Cost Per Employee
When factoring salary costs, productivity losses, and opportunity costs, the average organization spends over $37,000 per employee annually on meeting time.
73% of Attendees Do Other Work
Nearly three-quarters of meeting participants regularly multitask during meetings, indicating they don't see the meeting as valuable use of their time.
No Decisions in 47% of Meetings
Nearly half of all meetings end without clear decisions or action items, creating the need for follow-up meetings to make the decisions that should have been made initially.
The Science Behind PALM
The PALM technique isn't just another corporate frameworkâit's built on well-established research about human decision-making, cognitive load, and group dynamics:
Parkinson's Law
"Work expands to fill the time available for its completion." This principle informs the 'Limit' component of PALM, recognizing that shorter timeboxes create focus.
Decision Fatigue
Research shows that decision quality deteriorates after extended deliberation. PALM's focused approach preserves cognitive resources for the decisions that matter.
Ringelmann Effect
As group size increases, individual productivity decreases. The 'Minimum' component directly addresses this by keeping meeting size as small as possible.
Goal Setting Theory
Specific, measurable goals lead to better performance than vague intentions. PALM's emphasis on decisions rather than discussions creates these concrete endpoints.
Enterprise Implementation
While the PALM technique can be implemented by individuals, it delivers exponentially greater value when adopted systematically across teams and organizations.
Anonymous Case Example
A Fortune 500 technology company implemented PALM across their product development division (1,200 employees) and tracked the results over 6 months. They found:
- 31% reduction in total meeting hours
- 47% increase in decisions made per meeting
- 22% improvement in employee satisfaction scores
- Estimated $3.7M in productivity savings annually
The key to their success was integration with existing tools and systems, rather than treating PALM as a separate initiative.
While Corporate Clarity does not offer consulting services, we're happy to connect you with resources for implementing these approaches. The PALM technique is free to use under MIT license in your organization.
Email for Implementation ResourcesAbout Corporate Clarity
Corporate Clarity is an anti-corporate branding initiative focused on practical tools for fighting organizational dysfunction. We're not selling services. We're not building a platform. We're just sharing what works.
Our core values:
- Authenticity over Illusion - We prioritize real progress over the appearance of progress
- Enough over Greed - We believe in sustainable growth and defining success on our own terms
- Empowerment over Anxiety - We create tools that build confidence rather than fear
- Community over Hierarchy - We value meaningful connection over organizational charts
- Action over Talk - We celebrate those who ship over those who discuss
Learn more at corporateclarity.xyz.
Open Source
All Corporate Clarity tools, including the PALM Meeting Tool, are open source under the MIT License. This means you can use, modify, and distribute these tools freely, including for commercial purposes.
Contribute to this project
We welcome contributions, suggestions, and forks. Visit our GitHub repository to get involved:
GitHub Repository