Everybody complains about meetings don’t they? A culture of meetings has overtaken possibly every industry, business organization and public sector operation, creeping in slowly over the last fifty years or so, gradually cementing itself into organizational culture the world over. I suppose you have to ask, how has this happened, and why? After all, most people hate meetings. They lower productivity, waste valuable time, veer off-message often morphing into rambling social get-togethers which vary rarely achieve their agend-ered purposes. Many are just simply unnecessary, and the whole caboodle leads to meeting failure and even worse, meeting fatigue. This last one is, of course, the little cousin of innovation overload.
One, of course, leads to the other. I mean, how could we possibly introduce all those new innovations, policies and procedures without a raft of preparation, brainstorming, planning, execution and progress review meetings. You start to see my point. Everybody just hates meetings. Or do they? The answer to this question is, unsurprisingly perhaps, no. There are many folk who actually thrive in the meetings culture. Most managers actually love meetings. They use them for many reasons, mostly relating to control freakery, in my view.
-Firstly, most meetings are a social occasion. So all the off-message chit-chat actually fulfils a human social need. People like to gossip and bitch about other people. Many managers need the sense of vindication which comes from a good bitch with underlings and colleagues about other (perhaps competing) managers. It makes them feel they are a part of a special close-knit community from which others are excluded. This is all a real meeting killer, distracting, time-consuming, and very difficult to plan out of any agenda. After all, its human nature to talk and any environment that encourages talk is at risk of veering off message, yes?
-Secondly, There’s a status thing involved in meetings. This really links in with the sense of community created (see first point above) and the logic goes something like this. If you’re at the meeting, then you are more important than those not invited. The importance is reinforced by the number of meetings you attend. If you spend all day every day in meetings, you must be like, very important indeed? The number of committees, focus and planning groups you sit on is a direct measure of your importance to your particular organization. You have a seat at the top-table; are in the decision-making loop; are one of the decision makers. Even being at meetings and asking or being asked to answer questions on a one-off basis increases your visibility with the big bosses and directors above you in the hierarchy and therefore, enhances your own status.
Thirdly, meetings keep everyone better informed about what’s going on around the organization. Although quite probably unconnected with the meeting, this informal communication does have the effect of keeping everyone in the loop. These informal sources of information supplement formal communication and such back-channels play an important role in assisting people to avoid the political and personal faux-pas which are always such an ever-present danger in any place of work.
Now most companies and organisations are all too aware of the problem with meetings culture and try to do an awful lot to minimize the risks. There are rafts of company policy documents, piles of white folders detailing procedure, and endless training courses for managers on how to plan, agenda and maintain focus in meetings. This whole meeting education shooting match has reached saturation point in fact. Endless hours of training and thought go into making policy and procedure for meetings effective and put into common use. And yet, of all the operating procedures, it’s those relating to meetings which are most commonly ignored, or at least, brushed under the corporate carpet. All because, whatever their outward protestations, most managers either on an overtly conscious, or even unconscious level, like meetings just too much to let them fall by the wayside. They are almost psychological drivers which usually trump all the common sense and planning so carefully translated into meetings conduct guidance. Indeed, if we have such things as meetings audits, most organisations would fail miserably. If we had to devise a way of ruthlessly enforcing the rules for meetings and cut back, a whole new set of problems would be created...
- People would get meeting withdrawal syndrome. The shakes would start. Managers would be seen desperately hunting for little bowls of mints, bottled water, and even sit with other folk at their desks for that authentic meeting feeling.
- Some folk would lose the ability to make coffee of walk to the drinks machine. Their heads would be seen above the cubicle partitions, necks stretched up like frantic Meercats, searching the office horizon for the woman and her trolley of stainless steel coffee and tea dispensers.
- Without an agenda, many would have a problem actually knowing what to do and how to do it. They’d all be waiting for someone to start them off.
-Most would have to deal with suppressed feelings either of unrequited bitchiness about their colleagues or seniors or enhanced feelings of unimportance, denied their therapeutic outlets of meetings. In fact, ‘meetings-envy’ would become a very sore point for many, looking on in rage-inducing jealousy at those lucky chosen few who still got the call to the inner sanctum, the corporate meeting room with its infinitely higher quality fresh ground coffee, Malvern Spring Water, and posh biscuits.
How does any organization deal with this modern-day phenomenon then? Well, managers at all levels need to be very aware of the need for absolute compliance with meeting discipline, both in scheduling and conduct during any meeting called. A fit for purpose audit sheet for each meeting should be checked both before and after any meeting. Attendance limited to those with direct involvement. Others can be notified by memo. Video-conference is possible for most organizations nowadays. The software is cheap or free to use. Communication via message boards or internal ‘Twitter-like’ social media (Yammer was a useful tool for this). Regularly review the business meeting schedule; even restrict the use of meeting or conference rooms. Ban nice coffee and posh biscuits even. Make sure everyone always brings something to a meeting which garners appreciation from all for its contribution; for being one step ahead of the room. For contributing previously thought-out ideas based on the agenda and the hoped for outcome of that particular meeting. Anticipate the outcome and be one step ahead of it. All this will save time in both initial and follow-up/progress meetings.
But just complaining and then doing nothing is not enough. Because although we know they’re bad, we just keep on coming back for more. Like moths to a flame, the attraction and draw of a meeting is just too good to miss out on
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