As seems to be the case every year, the summer is coming to an end and the beginning of the academic year is upon us. I always feel like I have more time than I actually do to get done all of the projects my aspirational self put on the to do list back in May, but such is life. At any rate, the start of the school year also means the number of meetings filling up my calendar are going to be increasing considerably. This makes it a good time to refresh my own meeting focus an share some thoughts on the "why" of meetings.
We've all sat through meetings that could have easily been emails or newsletters. You know the meetings I'm talking about, right? It's a relentless onslaught of "updates" for the good of the group. I am not denying that this information is important and valuable, but did I really need to be there in person to listen to it? In general, if your purpose is information delivery, then it probably doesn't need to take place during a meeting. On the other hand, if the purpose involves an emotional appeal or a task-oriented focus, then a meeting might be warranted.
Let's start with the emotional appeal. If we are already interested in a project or topic, then we are predisposed to be engaged, and an email is probably enough to hook us. On the other hand, if we aren't familiar with the project or topic, then a face-to-face encounter is crucial for gaining emotional buy-in. So, if you're trying to gather support for a new initiative or change in policy or practice, then a meeting may be warranted. Meetings also allow us the opportunity to ask questions about a particular project or topic, and gather feedback more effectively than simply soliciting said feedback via email. We often feed off of the energy of others around us, and in hearing the thoughts of others, our own thoughts and opinions come to the surface more readily.
A meeting is also a wonderful opportunity to accomplish a task the necessitates the knowledge and skills of a broad range of people. There are a plethora of project management programs available (think Slack, Asana) that can facilitate effective collaboration and convey information effectively. However, you still need to do the work, and often, that work happens much more effectively and efficiently in a face-to-face environment.
Meetings are also an important avenue for solving problems that we can't solve ourselves. New perspectives, opinions, and experiences can shed light on problems that are frustrating us, and being able to effectively share those ideas necessitates an intentional gathering. Sometimes the problem you need to solve is simply making a decision that allows everyone to be able to move forward with a clear sense of their responsibilities. Here, again, a meeting can be an effective means of making those decisions. Online scheduling polls are a neat tool, but I promise you that you're spending more time than you would if you simply brought everyone together and asked them to decide. How often has something you've been working on been held up because others needed to make a decision about some aspect of it?
Whether you are meeting for emotional or task-oriented reasons, it's ultimately important to identify the purpose for the meeting and clearly convey that to others you are inviting. Our schedules and workflows have definitely become more flexible in recent years, but treating everyone's time as valuable is a clear sign of respect. So, let's all take a moment to look at our calendars and ask why we are meeting. If that answer is information sharing, go ahead and send me that email and give me my time back. I promise I'll be much more excited and invested in meeting later when we have work to do together!
