source: mitopencourseware / flickr
We all know meetings are bad (if you don’t, then you’re in the wrong place). But “meeting for meeting’s sake”, a repeating meeting that occurs regardless of an agenda or need, is not only really bad, but potentially destructive.
This is the story of one such meeting. The meeting was a monthly meeting with only a vague description. This instance of the meeting had no agenda until just 30 minutes prior to the meeting’s start. Nobody came prepared, nor did anybody know what to expect. On top of that, important participants were missing, as they were in another meeting.
In my mind, this was a meeting that had every reason to be postponed, if not completely canceled. Unfortunately, the decision was made to hold the meeting anyway.
The topic was controversial. Being that there was only a 30 minute lead time on what the meeting was going to be about, those opposed to the topic had absolutely no time to formulate a response and alternative solution. Those in favor had no idea of the opposition they were about to face.
The conference room was a tinderbox; emotions got heated very quickly. Those opposed reacted from pure gut instinct because they did not have solid facts to work with and had to reach for arguments against. Those in favor reacted emotionally, also due to the lack of preparation, as they were unaware of the hastily arranged, albeit unintentional, ambush awaiting them.
The meeting ended slightly prematurely, with all sides leaving angry. This meeting did more damage than anything else.
What should have happened? There were two major, if not fatal, mistakes made. First, the meeting should have never occurred because there were people who needed to be there who were double-scheduled, and had to go to another meeting. Those people had important information that could have made the meeting go smoother. Secondly, there should have been an agenda for the meeting published several days ahead of time. This would have allowed the opposition to come up with fact-based arguments and an alternative solution, as well as given the proponents time to realize there was an opposition, and to make preparations for that.
When you find yourself scheduled to attend a ‘meeting for meeting’s sake’, don’t just think that you’ll be wasting time. You could be damaging workplace relationships and putting your projects in peril.
