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Rituals for hypergrowth: An inside look at how YouTube scaled
Rituals for hypergrowth: An inside look at how YouTube scaled
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Weekly cadence

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YouTube meeting map

An accurate summary of my regular YT schedule.
I’m a big believer in color-coding my calendar (I still do it today), because it allows me to see at a glance how I’m spending my time. I’ve mapped out my actual meeting schedule at YouTube, and provided a few different cuts of the same schedule below.
I’ve started by coloring based on meeting type, but you can color by audience instead by checking the box below:
⁠
⁠
Check to color by type (unchecked) vs audience (checked)
By the way, if you want to repeat this process for your own meetings, just copy / paste this page into a new doc and fill in the Raw Data table at the bottom of the page.

A typical week

Here’s a snapshot of the meetings we ran at YouTube. By defining the meetings into 4 types, I avoided ad hoc meetings and set expectations for what to expect at each meeting type. This led to better preparation and subsequently more productive meetings.
Note: you’ll notice several overlapping meetings. No, I wasn’t in two multiple places at once 😀 ; those are meetings that happen monthly or quarterly, but we’re showing them here on a weekly schedule to paint a holistic picture.

April 2024

Week
Today
Apr 21
Apr 22
Apr 23
Apr 24
Apr 25
Apr 26
Apr 27
9:00 AM
9:30 AM
10:00 AM
10:30 AM
11:00 AM
11:30 AM
12:00 PM
12:30 PM
1:00 PM
1:30 PM
2:00 PM
2:30 PM
3:00 PM
3:30 PM
4:00 PM
4:30 PM
April 22, 2024
Tag-up Admin + ChiefOfStaff Sync
, 9:00 AM
April 22, 2024
YT Tech Staff
, 11:30 AM
April 22, 2024
YT Tech Staff Bullpen
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
April 22, 2024
Product Review
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
April 22, 2024
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #1
, 3:00 PM
April 22, 2024
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #1
, 3:30 PM
April 22, 2024
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #2
, 3:00 PM
April 22, 2024
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #2
, 3:30 PM
April 22, 2024
1:1 PM Lead - UX Lead
, 4:00 PM
April 22, 2024
1:1 PM Lead - Viewer
, 4:00 PM
April 23, 2024
Tag-up Big Rock #1
, 9:00 AM
April 23, 2024
Tag-up Big Rock #2
, 9:30 AM
April 23, 2024
Tag-up Big Rock #3
, 10:00 AM
April 23, 2024
Tag-up Big Rock #4
, 10:30 AM
April 23, 2024
Tag-up Big Rock #5
, 11:00 AM
April 23, 2024
Tag-up Big Rock #6
, 11:30 AM
April 23, 2024
Tag-up FA: Ads
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
April 23, 2024
Tag-up FA: Core Eng
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
April 23, 2024
Tag-up FA: Creator
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
April 23, 2024
Tag-up FA: Viewer
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
April 23, 2024
Salar-Shishir-Robert
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
April 24, 2024
YT All Hands
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
April 24, 2024
YT Staff
, 11:30 AM
April 24, 2024
YT Tech All Hands (incl Prep)
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
April 24, 2024
YT Staff Bullpen
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
April 24, 2024
YT Eng Review
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
April 24, 2024
1-1: APAC Lead
, 2:00 PM
April 24, 2024
Eng Lead - Ads
, 2:30 PM
April 24, 2024
1-1: EMEA Lead
, 2:00 PM
April 24, 2024
Eng Lead - Core
, 3:00 PM
April 24, 2024
1:1 AreaTechLead - App
, 2:00 PM
April 24, 2024
Eng Lead - Creator
, 3:00 PM
April 24, 2024
1:1 AreaTechLead - Data
, 2:00 PM
April 24, 2024
Eng Lead - Viewer #1
, 3:30 PM
April 24, 2024
1:1 AreaTechLead - Discovery
, 2:00 PM
April 24, 2024
Eng Lead - Viewer #2
, 3:30 PM
April 24, 2024
1-1: Larry
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
April 24, 2024
1-1: Salar
, 4:00 PM
April 25, 2024
Tag-up: Finance
, 9:00 AM
April 25, 2024
Tag-up: ATLs
, 9:30 AM
April 25, 2024
Tag-up: Legal
, 9:00 AM
April 25, 2024
Tag-up: Marketing
, 9:30 AM
April 25, 2024
Tag-up: HR / Recruiting
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
April 25, 2024
YT Eng Leads
, 11:00 AM
April 25, 2024
YT Biz Staff
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
April 25, 2024
YT Product Leads
, 11:00 AM
April 25, 2024
YTX Deal Review
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
April 25, 2024
1:1 Ex Creator Platform PM Lead
, 2:00 PM
April 25, 2024
1-1: Exec Advisor-1
, 2:30 PM
April 25, 2024
1:1 Ex Ux Ads Lead
, 2:00 PM
April 25, 2024
1-1: Exec Advisor-2
, 2:30 PM
April 25, 2024
1:1 Ex Ux Viewer Lead
, 2:00 PM
April 25, 2024
1-1: Marketing Lead
, 3:00 PM
April 25, 2024
1:1 Ex Video Delivery Platform Lead
, 2:00 PM
April 25, 2024
1-1: Sales Lead
, 3:00 PM
April 25, 2024
1-1: Content Lead
, 3:30 PM
April 26, 2024
YT Stats
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
April 26, 2024
Dim Sum
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
April 26, 2024
1:1 Ex Creator Platform Eng Lead
, 2:00 PM
April 26, 2024
1:1 Flex 1-1s
2:30 PM - 4:30 PM
April 26, 2024
1:1 Ex Data Science Lead
, 2:00 PM
April 26, 2024
1:1 Ex Infra Lead
, 2:00 PM
April 26, 2024
1:1 Ex Test Lead
, 2:00 PM
⁠


Meetings by type

Here you can see how I proportionally structured my time by type. The slices of the pie are driven by weekly time in each meeting type. You can see a detailed breakdown of all meetings below in
Data for YouTube Meetings
⁠
. Since the frequency of meetings varied (Some weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc), there’s a column that indicates the average time spent per meeting in a given week (e.g. a biweekly 1 hour meeting counts for 30 minutes weekly). Based on that, this is how my time split between the 4 meeting types:
A few things you’ll note:
Tagups were primary - you can see them dominating the time. This was the key to avoiding adhoc meetings
Decision Forums were intentionally separated from the other forums
Group Information Sharing meetings look like a lot but actually include a lot of Bullpen time and DimSum, so most of it was fairly casual.
There were a lot of 1-1s, but by managing frequency it didn’t overwhelm my week

Meetings by audience

Here’s a view showing my schedule cut by both type and audience. I used this to check which level of the company I was spending most of my time on.
Type
Audience
YT X-Functional
YT Tech
YT Eng
YT Product & UX
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Tag-Ups
Salar-Shishir-Robert
1 hr
Tag-up: Finance
15 mins
Tag-up: Legal
15 mins
Tag-up: Marketing
15 mins
Tag-up: HR / Recruiting
1 hr
2 hrs 45 mins
Tag-up Admin + ChiefOfStaff Sync
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #1
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #2
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #3
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #4
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #5
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #6
30 mins
Tag-up FA: Ads
1 hr
Tag-up FA: Core Eng
1 hr
Tag-up FA: Creator
1 hr
Tag-up FA: Viewer
1 hr
7 hrs 30 mins
Tag-up: ATLs
15 mins
YT Eng Leads
15 mins
30 mins
YT Product Leads
15 mins
15 mins
Decision Forums
YTX Deal Review
1 hr
1 hr
Product Review
2 hrs
2 hrs
YT Eng Review
1 hr
1 hr
0
Group: Information Sharing
YT All Hands
5 mins
YT Staff
30 mins
YT Staff Bullpen
1 hr
YT Biz Staff
1 hr
2 hrs 34 mins 37 secs
YT Tech Staff
30 mins
YT Tech Staff Bullpen
1 hr
YT Tech All Hands (incl Prep)
5 mins
YT Stats
1 hr
Dim Sum
45 mins
3 hrs 19 mins 37 secs
0
0
Extended 1:1
1-1: APAC Lead
8 mins
1-1: EMEA Lead
8 mins
1-1: Exec Advisor-2
8 mins
1-1: Exec Advisor-1
2 mins
24 mins 48 secs
1:1 Flex 1-1s
9 mins
9 mins 14 secs
1:1 AreaTechLead - App
8 mins
1:1 AreaTechLead - Data
2 mins
1:1 AreaTechLead - Discovery
2 mins
1:1 Ex Video Delivery Platform Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Creator Platform Eng Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Data Science Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Infra Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Test Lead
8 mins
49 mins 37 secs
1:1 Ex Creator Platform PM Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Ux Ads Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Ux Viewer Lead
8 mins
22 mins 30 secs
Core 1:1
1-1: Larry
30 mins
1-1: Salar
15 mins
1-1: Marketing Lead
15 mins
1-1: Sales Lead
15 mins
1-1: Content Lead
30 mins
1 hr 45 mins
0
Eng Lead - Ads
15 mins
Eng Lead - Core
15 mins
Eng Lead - Creator
15 mins
Eng Lead - Viewer #1
15 mins
Eng Lead - Viewer #2
15 mins
1 hr 15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #1
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #2
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #1
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #2
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Viewer
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - UX Lead
15 mins
1 hr 30 mins
⁠

Meetings by weekday

Finally, here’s a view that shows the weekly amount given to each meeting. The weekly amount normalizes meetings to a weekly basis, even when it occurs monthly or quarterly. So for example, a 30 minute meeting that happens once per week equals 30 weekly minutes, while a 60 minute quarterly meeting equals 15 weekly minutes.
All together, I had about 30 hours of scheduled meetings a week, which is one of the reasons why there are very few things that can be a bigger force multiplier than having the right admin and Chief of Staff.
DOW
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Tag-up Admin + ChiefOfStaff Sync
30 mins
Product Review
2 hrs
YT Tech Staff
30 mins
YT Tech Staff Bullpen
1 hr
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #1
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #2
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #1
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #2
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Viewer
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - UX Lead
15 mins
5 hrs 30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #1
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #2
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #3
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #4
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #5
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #6
30 mins
Tag-up FA: Ads
1 hr
Tag-up FA: Core Eng
1 hr
Tag-up FA: Creator
1 hr
Tag-up FA: Viewer
1 hr
Salar-Shishir-Robert
1 hr
8 hrs
YT Eng Review
1 hr
YT All Hands
5 mins
YT Tech All Hands (incl Prep)
5 mins
YT Staff
30 mins
YT Staff Bullpen
1 hr
Eng Lead - Ads
15 mins
Eng Lead - Core
15 mins
Eng Lead - Creator
15 mins
Eng Lead - Viewer #1
15 mins
Eng Lead - Viewer #2
15 mins
1-1: Larry
30 mins
1-1: Salar
15 mins
1:1 AreaTechLead - App
8 mins
1-1: APAC Lead
8 mins
1-1: EMEA Lead
8 mins
1:1 AreaTechLead - Data
2 mins
1:1 AreaTechLead - Discovery
2 mins
5 hrs 6 mins 21 secs
Tag-up: Finance
15 mins
Tag-up: Legal
15 mins
Tag-up: Marketing
15 mins
Tag-up: ATLs
15 mins
Tag-up: HR / Recruiting
1 hr
YT Eng Leads
15 mins
YT Product Leads
15 mins
YTX Deal Review
1 hr
YT Biz Staff
1 hr
1-1: Marketing Lead
15 mins
1-1: Sales Lead
15 mins
1-1: Content Lead
30 mins
1:1 Ex Creator Platform PM Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Ux Ads Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Ux Viewer Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Video Delivery Platform Lead
8 mins
1-1: Exec Advisor-2
8 mins
1-1: Exec Advisor-1
2 mins
6 hrs 9 mins 48 secs
YT Stats
1 hr
Dim Sum
45 mins
1:1 Ex Creator Platform Eng Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Data Science Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Infra Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Test Lead
8 mins
1:1 Flex 1-1s
9 mins
2 hrs 24 mins 14 secs
⁠

Raw Data for the Meeting Views

This data drives all the views above
Title
Audience
Type
DOW
Frequency
Start time (PST)
Time
Weekly Amount
1
Tag-up Admin + ChiefOfStaff Sync
YT Tech
Tag-Ups
Monday
Weekly
​9:00 AM
30 mins
30 mins
2
Product Review
YT Tech
Decision Forums
Monday
Weekly
​1:00 PM
2 hrs
2 hrs
3
YT Tech Staff
YT Tech
Group: Information Sharing
Monday
Weekly
​11:30 AM
30 mins
30 mins
4
YT Tech Staff Bullpen
YT Tech
Group: Information Sharing
Monday
Weekly
​12:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
5
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #1
YT Product & UX
Core 1:1
Monday
BiWeekly
​3:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
6
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #2
YT Product & UX
Core 1:1
Monday
BiWeekly
​3:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
7
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #1
YT Product & UX
Core 1:1
Monday
BiWeekly
​3:30 PM
30 mins
15 mins
8
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #2
YT Product & UX
Core 1:1
Monday
BiWeekly
​3:30 PM
30 mins
15 mins
9
1:1 PM Lead - Viewer
YT Product & UX
Core 1:1
Monday
BiWeekly
​4:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
10
1:1 PM Lead - UX Lead
YT Product & UX
Core 1:1
Monday
BiWeekly
​4:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
11
Tag-up Big Rock #1
YT Tech
Tag-Ups
Tuesday
Weekly
​9:00 AM
30 mins
30 mins
12
Tag-up Big Rock #2
YT Tech
Tag-Ups
Tuesday
Weekly
​9:30 AM
30 mins
30 mins
13
Tag-up Big Rock #3
YT Tech
Tag-Ups
Tuesday
Weekly
​10:00 AM
30 mins
30 mins
14
Tag-up Big Rock #4
YT Tech
Tag-Ups
Tuesday
Weekly
​10:30 AM
30 mins
30 mins
15
Tag-up Big Rock #5
YT Tech
Tag-Ups
Tuesday
Weekly
​11:00 AM
30 mins
30 mins
16
Tag-up Big Rock #6
YT Tech
Tag-Ups
Tuesday
Weekly
​11:30 AM
30 mins
30 mins
17
Tag-up FA: Ads
YT Tech
Tag-Ups
Tuesday
Weekly
​12:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
18
Tag-up FA: Core Eng
YT Tech
Tag-Ups
Tuesday
Weekly
​1:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
19
Tag-up FA: Creator
YT Tech
Tag-Ups
Tuesday
Weekly
​2:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
20
Tag-up FA: Viewer
YT Tech
Tag-Ups
Tuesday
Weekly
​3:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
21
Salar-Shishir-Robert
YT X-Functional
Tag-Ups
Tuesday
Weekly
​4:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
22
YT Eng Review
YT Eng
Decision Forums
Wednesday
Weekly
​1:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
23
YT All Hands
YT X-Functional
Group: Information Sharing
Wednesday
Quarterly
​9:00 AM
1 hr
5 mins
24
YT Tech All Hands (incl Prep)
YT Tech
Group: Information Sharing
Wednesday
Quarterly
​9:00 AM
1 hr
5 mins
25
YT Staff
YT X-Functional
Group: Information Sharing
Wednesday
Weekly
​11:30 AM
30 mins
30 mins
26
YT Staff Bullpen
YT X-Functional
Group: Information Sharing
Wednesday
Weekly
​12:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
27
Eng Lead - Ads
YT Eng
Core 1:1
Wednesday
BiWeekly
​2:30 PM
30 mins
15 mins
28
Eng Lead - Core
YT Eng
Core 1:1
Wednesday
BiWeekly
​3:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
29
Eng Lead - Creator
YT Eng
Core 1:1
Wednesday
BiWeekly
​3:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
30
Eng Lead - Viewer #1
YT Eng
Core 1:1
Wednesday
BiWeekly
​3:30 PM
30 mins
15 mins
31
Eng Lead - Viewer #2
YT Eng
Core 1:1
Wednesday
BiWeekly
​3:30 PM
30 mins
15 mins
32
1-1: Larry
YT X-Functional
Core 1:1
Wednesday
BiWeekly
​4:00 PM
1 hr
30 mins
33
1-1: Salar
YT X-Functional
Core 1:1
Wednesday
BiWeekly
​4:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
34
1:1 AreaTechLead - App
YT Eng
Extended 1:1
Wednesday
Monthly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
35
1-1: APAC Lead
YT X-Functional
Extended 1:1
Wednesday
Monthly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
36
1-1: EMEA Lead
YT X-Functional
Extended 1:1
Wednesday
Monthly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
37
1:1 AreaTechLead - Data
YT Eng
Extended 1:1
Wednesday
Quarterly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
2 mins
38
1:1 AreaTechLead - Discovery
YT Eng
Extended 1:1
Wednesday
Quarterly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
2 mins
39
Tag-up: Finance
YT X-Functional
Tag-Ups
Thursday
BiWeekly
​9:00 AM
30 mins
15 mins
40
Tag-up: Legal
YT X-Functional
Tag-Ups
Thursday
BiWeekly
​9:00 AM
30 mins
15 mins
41
Tag-up: Marketing
YT X-Functional
Tag-Ups
Thursday
BiWeekly
​9:30 AM
30 mins
15 mins
42
Tag-up: ATLs
YT Eng
Tag-Ups
Thursday
BiWeekly
​9:30 AM
30 mins
15 mins
43
Tag-up: HR / Recruiting
YT X-Functional
Tag-Ups
Thursday
Weekly
​10:00 AM
1 hr
1 hr
44
YT Eng Leads
YT Eng
Tag-Ups
Thursday
BiWeekly
​11:00 AM
30 mins
15 mins
45
YT Product Leads
YT Product & UX
Tag-Ups
Thursday
BiWeekly
​11:00 AM
30 mins
15 mins
46
YTX Deal Review
YT X-Functional
Decision Forums
Thursday
Weekly
​1:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
47
YT Biz Staff
YT X-Functional
Group: Information Sharing
Thursday
Weekly
​12:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
48
1-1: Marketing Lead
YT X-Functional
Core 1:1
Thursday
BiWeekly
​3:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
49
1-1: Sales Lead
YT X-Functional
Core 1:1
Thursday
BiWeekly
​3:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
50
1-1: Content Lead
YT X-Functional
Core 1:1
Thursday
Weekly
​3:30 PM
30 mins
30 mins
51
1:1 Ex Creator Platform PM Lead
YT Product & UX
Extended 1:1
Thursday
Monthly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
52
1:1 Ex Ux Ads Lead
YT Product & UX
Extended 1:1
Thursday
Monthly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
53
1:1 Ex Ux Viewer Lead
YT Product & UX
Extended 1:1
Thursday
Monthly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
54
1:1 Ex Video Delivery Platform Lead
YT Eng
Extended 1:1
Thursday
Monthly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
55
1-1: Exec Advisor-2
YT X-Functional
Extended 1:1
Thursday
Monthly
​2:30 PM
30 mins
8 mins
56
1-1: Exec Advisor-1
YT X-Functional
Extended 1:1
Thursday
Quarterly
​2:30 PM
30 mins
2 mins
57
YT Stats
YT Tech
Group: Information Sharing
Friday
Weekly
​11:00 AM
1 hr
1 hr
58
Dim Sum
YT Tech
Group: Information Sharing
Friday
BiWeekly
​12:00 PM
1 hr 30 mins
45 mins
59
1:1 Ex Creator Platform Eng Lead
YT Eng
Extended 1:1
Friday
Monthly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
60
1:1 Ex Data Science Lead
YT Eng
Extended 1:1
Friday
Monthly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
61
1:1 Ex Infra Lead
YT Eng
Extended 1:1
Friday
Monthly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
62
1:1 Ex Test Lead
YT Eng
Extended 1:1
Friday
Monthly
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
63
1:1 Flex 1-1s
YT Tech
Extended 1:1
Friday
Quarterly
​2:30 PM
2 hrs
9 mins
There are no rows in this table
1 day 3 hrs 10 mins 23 secs
⁠
Audience
1
YT X-Functional
2
YT Tech
3
YT Eng
4
YT Product & UX
There are no rows in this table
⁠
Type
1
Tag-Ups
2
Decision Forums
3
Group: Information Sharing
4
Core 1:1
5
Extended 1:1
There are no rows in this table
⁠


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