The purpose of an all-hands meeting

There are only a few meetings that truly move a company forward. Like it or not, the all-hands is one of them.

But most leaders treat the all-hands meeting like a check box for culture. A formality. Something to rush through – or skip entirely – to get back to the “real work”. And most employees can feel it. They know when leadership’s just going through the motions. No structure. No energy. No clear message.

But your all-hands isn’t just another meeting. It’s a powerful opportunity to realign the team, reset the narrative, and re-ignite momentum. A well-executed all-hands meeting can shape the direction of the entire company for months – sometimes years! That’s an incredibly high-leverage 60-90 minutes.

When we were scaling Classy (now GoFundMe Pro), I ran hundreds of all-hands meetings. The best ones left people buzzing purpose, direction and progress. The worst? They made people question if we were even going to make it.

That’s the difference a great all-hands can make. And it’s why this meeting deserves your full attention – regardless of your company’s size.

There’s no one-size fits all template for an all-hands meeting (and anyone who says otherwise should probably be ignored). But after 20 years of trial and error, I’ve built a simple framework – a way of thinking of your all-hands – that will help you nail your format and your agenda every time. 

Let’s dive in.

All Hands meeting format

A lot of founders get stuck wondering: what should my all-hands look like at our stage of growth?

This is a good question because it does change as you scale. Let’s define the growth stages real quick:

• Launch (pre-revenue): 5 or less people
• Product-Market-Fit ($1M or less): 5-15 people
• Initial Scale ($1M – $10M): 15 – 50 people
• Scale 1 ($10M – $50M): 50 – 150 people
• Scale 2 ($50M – $100M): 150 – 300+ people

Note: team sizes are estimates as they vary by company type.

For each of these phases of growth, the all-hands meeting will look slightly different. Different cadence, different format, different depth. The goal is the same – alignment & momentum – but the structure evolves to match your scale.

Let’s break down frequency and length by stage.

All-Hands Frequency & Length 

The first step is to get the frequency right. Meet too often, and it becomes a drain. Meet too infrequently, and you lose touch with the team. Next is the duration of the meeting. This is directly linked to frequency. The more often you meet, the shorter the meeting should be. And vice versa.

Here’s what I recommend by stage:

Why the all-hands changes as you grow:

• Launch: At this stage all that matters is getting your product out there. The all-hands acts as a deeper weekly or bi-weekly checkpoint, and pairs well with short daily huddles.
  
• PMF: You’re highly focused on getting your product in the hands of customers and iterating based on the feedback. The all-hands creates time to synthesize what you’re hearing and keep everyone on the same page as you incorporate that feedback.
  
• Initial Scale: You start building out real functional teams (sales, marketing, etc.). This is where silos start to form and alignment gets harder. The all-hands meeting acts as the glue. You’ll also add a leadership team meeting here, since the all-hands meeting gets too large for every topic.
  
• Scale 1: Here you have the option to introduce Quarterly Business Reviews (QBR) as a separate meeting (usually between 50 and 100 people). Once you do, you can move your all-hands away from the “around the horn” format where each leader gives a deep functional update. You can still include your functional leaders, but it’s not a mandatory agenda item anymore. That’s what the QBRs are for!
  
• Scale 2: At this stage QBRs are mandatory – typically for managers and above. That frees up your all-hands to focus on what matters most: purpose, direction and progress (see below). It starts to feel less like a meeting and more like a “mini event”. Think of it like your annual company kickoff, but happening 4 times per year. As the leader, you’ll need support – typically from a Chief of Staff or equivalent – to help craft the agenda, align the message and drive prep across the teams.

But here’s the thing—regardless of frequency & length, you can’t just wing it. Great all-hands meetings don’t happen by accident. They require thoughtful planning and execution from the top.

All Hands Meeting Agenda

My philosophy is simple: every all-hands should feel like a must-attend event. Not just another meeting – something the team actually looks forward to. Because it helps them enjoy their work and do it better.

That doesn’t mean its all inspiration and no numbers though. It means building each meeting around the right mix of purpose, direction and progress – or PDP for short.

• Purpose: Why are we here?
• Direction: Where are we going?
• Progress: How are we doing?

There are the three questions every leader, and team, should be able to answer at all times. The clearer they are, the faster your team moves. The fuzzier they are, the more things start to stall.

That’s why every agenda item should tie back to one of these themes, making the PDP the backbone of every great all-hands.

I wrote more about the PDP here, and how you can test your own leadership through a simple exercise. The PDP is a core part of my all of my major meetings (all-hands, offsites, kickoffs, etc.). This way I know I'm always clarifying things for my team. 

When you get the content right, your team walks out informed, inspired and fired up. It’s an energy boost that can last for months. Your goal as the leader is to keep the momentum going until the next all-hands (at least) and then give everyone another shot in the arm!

How to build an all-hands agenda

A meeting agenda is usually just a list of items – topics, updates and speakers. But most leaders don’t give enough thought to the why behind each item, or how it all ties together for the team.

I’ve found it helpful to treat each agenda item like a piece of content, each with a clear objective and theme. For the themes, I tie each piece of content back to the PDP to stay grounded in what actually matters:

→ Purpose: content that reinforces your mission and values
→ Direction: content that reinforces your vision, strategy and goals
→ Progress: content that updates and shares reflections on goals, metrics, roadmap, etc.

This creates thematic consistency your team will notice and appreciate. It also keeps you balanced so you don’t become a company that’s all numbers and no mission. Or possibly worse, all mission but no execution.

The key is hitting all three PDP themes in every all-hands agenda. The order and length of each agenda item will vary from meeting to meeting – and that’s totally fine. You can even double up on a agenda theme if your team needs more of it.

Now let’s break each one down more closely…

Agenda Theme 1: Purpose

Reinforcing your company’s mission and “why” is one of the most vital yet overlooked aspects of an all-hands. The Purpose agenda theme helps answer the question: Why are we here? 

In the whirlwind of the day-to-day, it’s easy for people to lose sight of the bigger picture. This theme is essential for helping people connect their purpose (their ‘why’) to the company’s. This connection drives motivation and helps people get through the tough stretches (that we all have!). 

All Hands Ideas: Purpose Content

Here’s a few examples of content that could fit the Purpose theme:

• Sharing a customer story that highlights your impact  
• Sharing a story or observation that ties to mission or values
• Presenting data showing your product’s real-world impact
• Inviting a guest speaker who embodies your mission
• Highlighting a value and going over its ‘why’
• Recognizing team members who exemplify your values
• Having team members talk about their favorite value is & why

These are just a few examples, and I’m sure you can think of many more.

You’ll start seeing inspiration for the purpose theme everywhere. Jot them down on a note app to pull from later. This makes planning 100x easier. And don’t over think this one. A simple story that exemplifies your mission or values can go a long way. It’s important for Purposed-themed content to feel authentic, not forced.

Block 2: Direction

The Direction theme answer the question: Where are we going? This content makes your longer-term vision AND your shorter-term goals crystal clear, no matter someone’s role or level. When people know the plan, they move faster and with more confidence once they step away from the all-hands meeting.

All Hands Ideas: Direction Content

Here’s a few examples of content that could fit the Direction theme:

• Share your medium & long-term vision (3, 5, 10, 20 years)
• Explain your strategy to achieve this vision at each step 
• Walk through annual goals and the “why” behind each
• Review the product roadmap and how it ties to the vision & goals
• Share functional priorities and how they ladder up
• Go ‘around the horn’ – each leaders shares their plan for the month, quarter or year

The more specific and tangible, the better. Your team should walk away knowing exactly where the company is headed and how each part of the organization fits into that picture.

Block 3: Progress 

The Progress theme answer the question: How are we doing? This content reflects on your goals, metrics, roadmap and wins since last all-hands meeting. When people see their work making an impact, they’ll lean in further. This creates momentum from meeting to meeting.

All Hands Ideas: Progress Content

Here are a few examples of content that could fill the Progress agenda block:

• Review progress against your monthly, quarterly, and/or annual goals
• Review health metrics or other key performance indicators 
• Highlight new customer wins or stories since last time you met
• Showcase new product features or launches that went live
• Spotlight team members who’ve gone above and beyond
• Go ‘around the horn’ – each leaders shares how last period went, highlights & challenges

Remember, don’t just report numbers. Always connect progress back to the people behind it. Celebrating wins builds pride and collective ownership. It shows the team that we’re in this together, pushing towards a shared vision.

But showcasing progress isn’t just about patting yourselves on the back. It’s also a chance for honest reflection. If you’re falling short in certain areas, don’t sweep it under the rug. Openly acknowledge it and involve your team in brainstorming solutions.

The key is balance. Aim for a tone of realistic optimism—acknowledge the hard work ahead while celebrating the milestones you’ve already achieved together. That’s the kind of message that earns trust and energizes people to tackle whatever’s next!

Creating a macro message

Once your agenda is in place, zoom out and ask yourself: What’s the one message I want the team to remember from this all-hands?

This becomes your macro message – the core takeaway you want every person to carry with them for days, months, maybe even years. It doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, the simpler the better.

Then, weave that message through each section of the agenda. Look for natural ways to reinforce it in each themed agenda item: Purpose, Direction, Progress.

You can also flip it: start with your core message, then build the agenda around it. For example, say your core message is: We need more focus on our customers.

You might build the following all-hands agenda: 

1. Purpose: Share a few powerful customer stories
2. Direction: Highlight customer-first goals or upcoming initiatives
3. Progress: Recognize teams that went above and beyond for customers

You get the idea! 

Bonus: Make it interactive 

Your all-hands meeting shouldn’t be a one-way broadcast to your team. To take it to the next level, build in moments where the team gets to participate. This is easy with small teams, but will take a bit more planning when the team gets large. Either way, it’s worth it.

Here are a few ways to add an interactive element to your all-hands:

• Break into small groups for rapid brainstorming on a key challenge  
• Invite team members to share their own stories or lessons learned
• Open the floor for live Q&A session on a hot topic or recent change

This shifts the meeting from passive download to an active conversation. You’re co-creating, not just feeding them directions.

Some of the best ideas I’ve seen came from these moments. You never know what breakthroughs might surface when you open things up and let it get a little messy!

Now, you’ve got the framework to transform your all-hands meeting from a box-checking snoozefest into one of the highest-leverage meetings on your calendar.

Stay grounded in the core agenda themes – Purpose, Direction, Progress—and you’ll be ahead of 99% of the companies out there!

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