Too many meetings
Is it possible to run a company without ever calling a meeting that involves more than eight people? That’s a business model waiting to be tested.
Alot of management thinking is devoted to promoting more efficient meetings — have a clear agenda; send out materials ahead of time; schedule a definite time limit. The minutes should be done an hour after the meeting, and reflect action plans, timelines, and accountabilities. Meetings are becoming better managed, but what about controlling the number?
Can there be too many meetings called — let’s discuss the summer outing? What compels executives to call meetings for the flimsiest of reasons? Is there an addiction for meetings, which can be called (I’m just making this up) “parleyphilia?” With the ubiquity of e-mails, hand phones that can connect more than one party, and short conversations in the hallway, is there still a need to get a number of schedules synched so that eight people can be in a single room where coffee and sandwiches will be served?
Meetings, which are deemed unnecessary by those dragged to attend them, have not lessened even with other available means of gathering opinions or disseminating news. There are hidden reasons why executives like to call them.
Power tripping is the primary motive. (I just feel like disrupting your schedule because I can.) The urge to call people to a hurried meeting is a way for the convener to flex her corporate muscle. It’s even better if the last-minute summons upsets lunch and dinner plans and other social commitments. The power points move up if the convener calls the meeting at her office, especially if there are not enough chairs for everyone — you can sit on the planter and be comfortable, Mr. R.
A perceived crisis is another good excuse. This does not have to be life-threatening or even affecting the company’s bottom line. It just has to be an unusual event to prepare for, like the boss’s birthday or an earthquake drill — do we know where all of us should be when the big one hits… any suggestions?
There are also the pre-scheduled weekly meetings for direct reports. This is just to be in the loop for what’s going on without having to visit the departments concerned. Everybody needs a power point presentation on challenges for the week. Everyone is just waiting for his turn.
Briefings are one-way communications that still need an audience. Maybe, it’s a directive from the top or strategic alliances being contemplated that will require some preparation (we need to serve merienda). Sometimes these sessions are also called de-briefings which entail an experience that needs to be shared for “lessons learned.” Maybe it’s a failed product launch that needs to be given a post-mortem analysis — what did the other folks do wrong? How can we deflect the blame?
Maybe a bad decision is about to be announced. There’s a need to call a meeting to get a buy-in and put people in the loop like a ring of fire. The best defense against future criticism of a very flawed policy being implemented is the argument that the critic was at the meeting and did not bring up his objections early enough. (He was just munching on his donut.)
Meetings define those who belong to the top table and the rest who do not. Those trying to pull a chair to get to sit in may be told to go get coffee somewhere else.
The purpose of a meeting can be perverted. It can have nothing to do with problem-solving or getting to the most informed decision. Oscar Wilde observed that meetings are where “hours are wasted, and minutes are kept.”
In lieu of pulling in unwilling participants to unnecessary meetings, there are other options like: dropping in on a subordinate to have a quick chat (is he reading the papers again?); sending an e-mail; trolling the corridors to find out if there are customers not being attended to; having a cup of coffee with two people one needs to check with.
Is it possible to run a company without ever calling a meeting that involves more than eight people? That’s a business model waiting to be tested.
If people can now be connected and work from home wearing pajamas, surely parleyphilia needs to be stopped. What about trying out six weeks of no meetings for a start? Withdrawal symptoms will be observed, and not necessarily in the bigger offices.