Department Meetings are a Waste of Time (there is a better way)

November 16th, 2009 by Andrew Swenson in Biz

Photo Credit: wynand van niekerk

Many companies still continue the outdated practice of weekly (or even daily) department meetings for passing along information (including project updates). It’s my opinion that these meetings are a complete waste of time that could otherwise be spent solving actual business problems.

The better option for passing information

This is by no means groundbreaking, but the simple solution to preventing the monumental time suck of departmental meetings is an online forum using a service like Google Wave, Ning, Facebook, or a custom install behind the firewall.

Instead of pulling everyone together for a meeting in which people will inevitably get distracted and wander from topic (thus wasting even more of your time), using a forum allows you to quickly pass information to your team. Because it’s a forum, your team can quickly post any questions or comments for their sake and for the sake of the group.

In this solution, there’s no endless string of reply-all emails and there’s a permanent record of information transfer (thus eliminating “you never told us that…“).

In addition, project updates are simple to track because when progress happens, everyone on the team sees the update in real time.

Using forums and meetings for creative problem solving

If you really want to, you can still meet with your department, but instead of passing information, use the time for creative problem solving.

Post a problem you’ll tackle at your meeting on the forum a few days before you get together. Let your team respond and react.

Then meet in person to discuss the problem that you’ve already had a chance to think about. Record your progress on the forum.

The advantages here:

A permanent record of your thought patterns and progress
More efficient use of time
Energies focused on solving problems instead of passing information

For me it’s pretty open and shut.

What do you think? How does your organization do it?

-Andrew

Photo Credit: wynand van niekerk (a_glitch on Stock Exchange); original here

Tags: common sense, Corp, Meetings

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Heath Lewis

I agree with everything Abby says here. I enjoy our staff meetings (some weeks), but realistically, they are 15 minutes content and an hour of relational time. Not that I don't like my staff, but do we have to do this EVERY week? A meeting for meeting's sake is pointless.

Every company wants increased productivity, but most aren't willing to take steps to make it happen. Eliminating (or even minimizing) pointless meetings is a great first step towards a more productive organization.
Andrew Swenson

Heath! Thanks for commenting.

I think maybe, as the other commenters have pointed out "minimizing" might be better than eliminating. Silly me.

But you hit the nail on the head when you wrote "A meeting for meeting's sake is pointless."

Do you feel the productivity crunch at your job? I mean, you seem to be going all the time!
Heath Lewis

I agree with minimizing. It's not about doing away with inefficient meetings (I don't believe that will ever happen); it's about learning to lead meetings well. Unfortunately, 95% of people who run meetings don't know how to do it effectively.

There is a bit of pressure to "be productive" in the church, but I think it has more to do with my personality than anything else. I hate feeling idle...
Jason Markow

Andrew, Great post. The company I work for is getting up to speed with online forums as reliable forms of communication. For example, we just adopted Highrise as our contact management software. Also, I fully intend on utilizing google wave once it has gone public.

However, I actually just got out of a meeting that established bi-weekly meetings myself. I like your solution to utilize that time to solve problems, but I think even simple things like status updates can play an important role face to face in things that cant be communicated digitally (tone, importance, inflection) More often than not, it is not what you say but how you say it and, until the digital world can offer a true substitute for "intuition" I think face to face meetings are here to stay.

Your post shows me that it is not the tools (read: online forums, etc) that need to change so much as the people using them.
Andrew Swenson

Alright Jason, you got me. Silly human emotion...

As I was thinking about this, though, it struck me that at #140conf I met people who launched businesses and made a lot of money but never met. Everything was done digitally.

I wonder if the problem comes in when we mingle digital and face to face? Or maybe that doesn't matter.

Maybe, it's like you said, that we should look at the people who are using the tools. Maybe if we understand the limitations we can avoid *some* of that digital misscommunication.

I'm not sure. But I do think face to face meetings aren't going anywhere, no matter how loud I scream :)
Rich Lazzara

Id love to answer your questions more thoroughly but I have to go to a meeting ;)

I agree with you. However what happens if your workforce isnt technically savvy enough to use the tools you recommend above. Email (yes), Intranet (read yes, but very few post), Wave (not a chance)

I do see something like Wave working someday though. I would love a hybrid email, twitter, wiki, intranet type system, that was idiot proof and easy.
Andrew Swenson

Thanks for commenting Rich.

I think maybe training and education is the answer. As new tools emerge, I don't think we can pass by their benefits simply because people don't know how to use them.

I'm sure the same thing happened when email came around. And now look at us.

What do you think? Is mass intranet or even Google Wave education possible?
Rich Lazzara

Andrew, sure its possible. Right now though my guess is small/med size companies aren't going to spend a lot of $ on training.

Im actually a fan of much smaller teams. The smaller the better. That are in constant communication, thus negating need for too many meetings.

Anyways good points and good things to think about. thanks.
Andrew Swenson

You're right. It always has to come back to analysis of the time/money investment.

And smaller teams are for sure the way to go.
abbyannette

Most people do not know how to use wiki type forums. Most people don't care to learn. Most people like to do things the way they've always been done. Most people look for excuses to go to meetings so as to fill their day with things.

My only thing against this post is that departmental meetings do allow for intentional interaction with the entire team; however, that can also be obtained by a company paid for monthly lunch. At this lunch you can still painfully sit through your co-workers discussion of their kid's latest sports game, your other co-workers newest spat with her boyfriend and your boss trying to cut down costs despite his/her inflated salary in comparison to yours.
Andrew Swenson

Yep. I'd venture to say that most people are completely happy with mediocrity.

Completely eliminating meetings isn't healthy. I think the best solution is replacing "informational" meetings with creative meetings.

And about the rest, picture me nodding, knowingly.
Shane Mac

Day late but whatever. I love sitting in meetings all day talking about what we should be doing in our next meeting and planning for our company meeting that is coming up.

I think of it like this, the people who schedule "timeline" meetings are the people in the lunch room talking about the number of unread emails they have and it is because they are in the lunchroom talking about how many unread emails they have. They care more about being seen as doing something than actually doing anything.

1. Quit talking and leave the lunchroom.
2. Like Andrew said, if you use the tools and technologies that we have today like wave, staction, basecamp, whatever, a project manager's job can pretty much be eliminated therefore reassuring the fact that they need to act like they are doing something and are reluctant to adapt the new technologies thus eliminating there job.

Meetings are groups of people. People in groups think creatively. That is what meetings these days should be used for. Well said Andrew!

Wait, I'm a project manager?
Andrew Swenson

Great point here: talking about work isn't actual work.

Maybe we don't want to admit it, but what's really tougher than learning new tech is learning a new way of doing things. And for some people, talking about work is what they're used to, dare I say, what they're good at...

So I love this: "Quit talking and leave the lunchroom."