Too Many, Too Few or Just Right
Too many, too few…just right.
Honestly I hardly ever hear about an organization that has too few meetings, quite the opposite. But too few meetings can be just as harmful as too many.
The conversations we often hear about meetings are either:
- we have too many meetings. It seems all I do is run from one meeting to the next.
- our company meetings are not productive.
The ultimate outcome for a staff, company, department meeting is to two-fold:
- get the team on the same page
- create plans that move the organization forward
Just as too many meetings can slow productivity so can the lack of meetings.
In the current age of communication, a false assumption can be made to rely on electronic tools (email, text, SLACK, chatter) for office dialog. As great as these tools can be when we rely on them solely and substitute these for healthy meetings I believe we miss out.
People, departments, and management locked away at their desks churning out work can seem like an efficient use of time but a lack of group meetings can
- have the potential to create silos between departments
- silence the voices of collaboration
- keep conversations in the hallways without a definition of desired outcomes
- silence creative voices that are often fueled by healthy banter
- create top-down/one-way communication
Too many, too few…what's right?
Each organization must answer the ‘what is right?’ question for their own context.
I believe that meetings are important if done right with:
- a purpose
- an agenda
- an environment of open communication.
Does your organization have too many, too few, or just right number of meetings?
Here are some additional posts about organization/staff meetings:
