Share what you know with millions of people
Focus is the best place to turn what you know into remarkable content
0
Why do managers & leaders in large organisations spend so much time in meetings?
Managers seem to be spending more time in meetings and the meetings seem to be getting larger--a kind of 'meeting creep'. I wonder why this is the case e.g. is it a sign of activity and hence demonstrating their value or a greater democratization of the workforce etc.
Events
- Lead Nurturing 202: The Next Generation May 31 @ 11 am PT
- The Tricks to Paid Media June 6 @ 11 am PT
- Display Advertising for Brand Awareness June 20 @ 11 am PT
Related Activity
9 Answers
In today's global matrix organizations meetings (phone or face-to-face) are the way work gets done. In my opinion, the issue is not too many long meeting but rather too many bad meetings. Well facilitated discussions, clear agendas and roles and a commitment to start and stop times can help make the time spent in meetings more productive.
Because they "make as if" they work. Efficient meetings should be short, and limited to once each 15 days. If the topic requires more meetings, then just work with your team. Problem solved. Communicate more, talk less
Perhaps prior meetings didn't accomplish what they set out to accomplish? The book The Fifth Discipline does a good job of explaining why that is true.
I think this is a very good point. I have been in meetings where a wonderful exchange of ideas and potential solutions are being discussed but because it did not appear on the agenda or took longer than was planned, the conversation was stopped and moved on to the next item--this meant of course that people had to meet again. Madness.
Ken, it is even worse than that. The internal machinations of organizations work to thwart change no matter how well devised and advised.
Great answer from Richard. Meetings are meant to be a forum for communication of some sort. The trouble is that many managers are wanting to know too much and don't know how to empower effectively. Interestingly, a recent study showed that the younger generation of leaders and managers are more effective at empowering people and ensuring they report back their progress. This same generation are also holding very much fewer meetings as well!!!
paul,
love to know about this study--do you have the link or reference?
thanks ken
There is something in the "make work" theory for sure but I also think there can be a sense of collective security if something is agreed in a meeting. That can be used by risk averse individuals to ensure that they cannot be blamed if something goes wrong.
As far as productivity of meetings is concerned I still like the idea of Privy Council meetings that are held by the Queen. Since 1861 these meetings have been held standing up. Almost sure to guarantee the business gets transacted quickly I would have thought! (All explained here for anyone interested in the more curious workings of the UK state apparatus!! http://www.privy-council.org.uk/output/page503.asp)
We are also finding in our research on meetings that the public positions are different from the private ones. In short, managers complain long and loud about meetings but when we do our surveys they rank them as slightly above mid-point in most dimensions (except for starting on time for example).
I wonder why this disconnect between public and private?
Answer This Question