Work Velocity: Stop Measuring Meetings and Start Measuring Momentum
Meetings are the backbone of how we communicate, decide, and move forward as teams. But there’s a problem: we’ve become too focused on measuring the snapshot—a single meeting, one moment in time—without looking at the bigger picture. We write a summary, highlight the action items, and think that’s enough. But one meeting doesn’t tell the whole story, and it certainly doesn’t tell us how work is truly moving forward.
Instead of dissecting a meeting in isolation, we need to start thinking about Work Velocity—how work is progressing across a series of meetings over time, and what that tells us about the real health of our projects, processes, and team dynamics.
Velocity Is About Movement, Not Moments
Imagine a car journey. If we focus only on individual checkpoints, we might know we’re making stops—but we won’t know how efficiently we’re getting to the destination. We need to understand the entire route, the detours, the speed changes, and the roadblocks. Work is the same: analyzing a single meeting is like looking at just one stop along a journey. It gives us a slice, but it doesn’t give us the whole flow.
Velocity isn’t about what happened in one meeting; it’s about how work is progressing across meetings, across weeks, and across a project’s lifecycle. It’s about understanding whether we’re accelerating, stuck in traffic, or taking detours that are keeping us from our goals.
Work Velocity captures that bigger picture. It tracks how ideas evolve, how roadblocks are addressed (or not), and whether the energy behind a project is building or stalling. And when you combine this understanding with AI-powered insights, you start to uncover patterns and truths that no single meeting summary could ever provide.
Calculating Work Velocity: A Simple Formula
To understand Work Velocity, we can use a simple formula:
Work Velocity (WV) = (Total Progress (P) / Time (T)) × (Consistency of Follow-Through (C) × Engagement (E))
Let’s break down what this means:
- Total Progress (P): This represents the sum of meaningful outcomes achieved across a series of meetings, such as action items completed, blockers resolved, and key decisions made. It measures how much tangible progress the team is making.
- Time (T): This represents the duration or the number of meetings over which progress is measured. It helps normalize progress over time, giving us a clear understanding of whether we’re effectively using our time.
- Momentum (M): This is calculated by evaluating:
- Consistency of Follow-Through (C): How consistently the team follows through on action items and decisions from previous meetings.
- Engagement (E): The level of participation and meaningful contributions during meetings.
Together, Consistency of Follow-Through and Engagement determine the Momentum that drives the team forward.
Work Velocity (WV) measures the rate of progress and the quality of that progress. It’s a metric that tells us not only if work is getting done, but if it’s being done in a way that builds momentum and sustains it over time.
From Meetings to Momentum: The Power of AI in Work Velocity
Think about it: we’ve all had meetings that felt productive—everyone left feeling good, action items were assigned, and the energy was high. But when we look back weeks later, nothing has actually changed. Progress hasn’t been made. Momentum hasn’t been built.
AI can help us see beyond that momentary “feel good” energy. By tracking a series of meetings over time and using a detailed AI rubric, we can generate powerful insights about whether we’re truly moving the needle. Are we gaining velocity, or are we just spinning our wheels?
Here’s what AI Coaching brings to Work Velocity:
- Pattern Recognition: AI can spot the recurring themes in meetings—those pesky roadblocks that keep coming up, the same questions that are never resolved, or the voices that are consistently overpowered. It doesn’t just look at a single instance; it picks up on patterns that humans might miss when we’re focused only on individual conversations.
- Progress Analysis: AI can track the evolution of ideas and actions across meetings. Are we consistently following through on action items? Are we resolving blockers effectively, or do they keep resurfacing? This kind of analysis shows whether work is gaining momentum or losing it, providing evidence-based feedback that’s far more meaningful than what we can glean from one meeting.
- Systemic Issues Uncovered: One of the most powerful aspects of AI is its ability to identify systemic issues that plague teams. Humans might instinctively sense that a particular problem keeps reappearing, but AI gives us concrete evidence—a trail of data that shows where processes are broken, where communication is falling short, and what’s holding us back. This isn’t just useful; it’s transformative when put in the hands of a skilled leader who knows how to act on it.
Why Velocity Matters More Than a Snapshot
In traditional meeting analysis, we summarize, we document action items, and we move on. But let’s be honest: a summary is not a solution. Knowing what happened in a meeting doesn’t tell us if we’re making progress—it just tells us what was said. It’s a snapshot, and it’s inherently limited.
Work Velocity offers something more. It’s not about the snapshot; it’s about the trajectory. It’s about understanding whether all those meetings, decisions, and discussions are actually moving us forward. It’s the difference between feeling busy and actually being productive.
When we use AI to measure velocity, we shift our focus from “What did we talk about?” to “How did we improve?” We move from documenting activities to tracking value creation—from merely capturing moments to understanding movement. This is a fundamentally different way of looking at work, and it’s one that has the potential to change the game.
The Role of AI Coaching: A New Level of Insight
AI coaching is what turns Work Velocity from a concept into an actionable framework. Here’s how:
- Real-Time Feedback: Imagine if every meeting came with a coach—someone (or something) that was there to give you feedback in real time, to point out when the conversation was veering off course, when certain voices were dominating, or when follow-ups weren’t happening. AI can do that. It can help keep meetings calibrated, focused, and effective—ensuring that momentum isn’t lost due to unclear goals or unresolved issues.
- Evaluating the Dynamics: Good meetings are about dynamics. Did the meeting have a natural flow, like a true problem-solving conversation among colleagues? Or was it a robotic march through a list of agenda items, with no real engagement? Was everyone in the room contributing, or did certain people dominate while others were sidelined? AI can analyze these dynamics, providing feedback that helps interviewers, leaders, and team members improve their approach to collaboration and discussion.
- Connecting Dots: When AI looks at a series of meetings, it connects dots that might seem unrelated to the human eye. It sees when a decision made three meetings ago is holding up progress now, or when a recurring blocker keeps going unresolved despite multiple attempts. It gives us the evidence to act decisively and make changes that actually matter.
Work Velocity: Changing the Game for Impactful Leaders
Let’s be clear: Work Velocity isn’t just about getting work done. It’s about ensuring that work has meaning—that our conversations, decisions, and actions are contributing to something larger. It’s about creating value over time, not just looking productive in the moment.
The truth is, impactful leaders know that one meeting doesn’t tell the whole story. They understand that the real question isn’t what happened today but what we’re building for tomorrow. AI-driven Work Velocity gives us the insights we need to answer that question—to see if our teams are truly gaining ground, or if we’re just treading water.
Let’s Stop Spinning Our Wheels
It’s time we stopped being satisfied with snapshots. Let’s stop thinking that a single meeting summary is enough to understand where we’re headed. Work is about momentum, about progress over time—and to understand that, we need to look at Work Velocity.
AI can help us get there. It can give us insights that go beyond what we instinctively know, providing the evidence we need to make better decisions, to remove barriers, and to move forward with clarity and purpose.
Work Velocity isn’t just a new metric—it’s a new way of working. It’s about moving beyond the surface, beyond the moment, and understanding the true movement of work. It’s time to stop measuring moments and start measuring momentum.
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