> I don't understand. These are just problems with meetings in general no matter what you do in advance. What are you arguing for?

That by simply requiring a doc, you have forced the person who called the meeting to think about what they want to achieve, and to prepare their thoughts ahead of time. This makes the agenda clear to everyone and helps to guide the discussion.

> It means that letting someone else manage your time is more efficient than managing your own time.

If we are reading the doc together in the meeting, I only need to accept/decline the meeting and I am good.

If I am expected to pre-read, I have to actively do something to schedule that pre-read time. And the doc has to be ready whenever I decide to read it. Multiply that by 10+ meetings a week for a busy manager, and you have a lot of mundane scheduling work to keep straight.

> If I need 5 minutes to read a document, how is it helpful for someone to force me to sit for 10 minutes to read it at a specific time?

I’ve not found that to be a problem in practice. I can use extra time to think and prioritize my feedback, or catch up on Slack, etc.