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George Bush knows how to keep a meeting short
I used to think that short meetings were best. Clearly, I confused the private with the social optimum.
For bonus points compare the picture with Tyler's discussion of meetings. How many items can you spot?
Meetings are not always about the efficient exchange of information, or discovering a new idea. Meetings can be about displays of power, signaling that a coalition is in place, wearing down an opponent, staging "theater" to make someone feel better, giving key players the feeling of being insiders, transmitting information about status, or simply marking time until something better happens. It's one thing to hate meetings. But before you can improve them, make sure you know what meetings are all about.
Hat tip to J-Walk Blog for the picture.
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on November 4, 2007 at 07:40 AM in Political Science | Permalink
Comments
The main purpose of meetings, in my experience, is to give the impression
that something is being done without actually doing anything. When your
boss asks you what you are doing on some project you have been assigned,
you say, "I have a meeting on that scheduled." This makes your boss think
you are meaningfully engaged even though nothing is actually happening.
Posted by: Bruce Bartlett at Nov 4, 2007 11:08:25 AM
I have to agree with Bruce. I have one project related meeting a week, and I can't remember the last time anything useful to the project was actually accomplished in the meetings. They appear to solely be used by management types to have something to do other than sit in their offices all day long. I wouldn't mind that they do this, but only wished that they wouldn't include me in the dog and pony show.
Posted by: Yancey Ward at Nov 4, 2007 11:30:06 AM
He's sitting on his arse while there is a woman present, standing. His mother must be so ashamed.
Posted by: dearieme at Nov 4, 2007 11:51:31 AM
There was at least one Silicon Valley company that took all chairs out of its conference rooms. As a consequence, meetings became very short and to the point.
Posted by: Foobarista at Nov 4, 2007 1:22:28 PM
Hmmm ... I've been on a fair # of software projects on both sides (ie programmer and mgmt). What the programmers fail to realize is that meetings really do help. They keep staff on track and reduce shirking for one.
Many programmer types can get fixated on a technical solution that provides no business value. Elegantly solving a problem that the customer doesn't care about is wasted work.
The shirking is also more common than anyone likes to admit. The meetings just let everybody know the boss is keeping an eye on things. It also fosters healthy competition -- it lets staff see how others are performing and lets the manager reward preferred behavior.
Regular meetings also help serious problems - like an employee dealing with a major personal problem - come to light earlier so they can be more positively dealt with. In a large enough project there's always somebody with a serious problem that could seriously hamper their output.
Programmer types possibly don't realize it as much -- but behavioral changes really stand out to a good manager who runs regular meetings.
Posted by: jim at Nov 4, 2007 3:20:02 PM
It's a funny picture, but one should remember he's meeting with the press. How many meetings between the press and a politico are about the "efficient exchange of information, or discovering a new idea"? I'm guessing "none" is the right answer.
Posted by: Thomas at Nov 4, 2007 5:40:35 PM
Q&A session with the press is now considered a meeting?
Posted by: Shaun M. at Nov 4, 2007 8:18:32 PM
Jim, yes, of course you're right that mgt needs frequent meetings to keep things on track.
But those are 90% one on one. The sort of big meeting shown in the picture is also needed regularly, to keep alive idea group identity and resolve, but IMHO counterproductive more than once-twice a week. Otherwise you're wasting 90% of that meeting time because at any moment, most of them don't need to be there.
You should instead be visiting offices daily and asking for status.
Posted by: Jon Kay at Nov 4, 2007 9:38:04 PM
I think it's good, as a leader, to have occasional meetings in order to establish authority. It helps you gauge the politics, to see who's coming up, who shouldn't come up, what ideas people have, who could be threats, and hopefully affirms the cohesiveness (or establishes the cohesiveness) of the team. Strong leaders should do this.
Posted by: Admiral at Nov 4, 2007 10:34:28 PM
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Posted by: fasdf at Nov 5, 2007 2:30:12 AM
Tyler-
J-Walk is a great resource for spreadsheets and has some funny things on his blog. Nevertheless, he has an unremitting animus toward Bush. Was there any point to this attempt at a gratuitous insult? I cheer him when he makes the press uncomfortable. He ought to waterboard Helen Thomas.
Posted by: Rich Berger at Nov 5, 2007 8:50:17 AM
Shaun,
There may be a woman standing while the Pres. is sitting, but at least there is no woman under the desk; no, George is no Bill Clinton.
Posted by: indiana jim at Nov 5, 2007 9:24:39 AM
on monday,our boss simply overlooked a scheduled meeting with 2 members of my team. it made me feel like the work was not of importance to him. on the meeting that he rescheduled, twice, to cover the first meeting on monday, he was 45 minutes late.
do you think he is trying to say something, indirectly, or just too busy?
Posted by: lovelydisturbance at Nov 8, 2007 12:03:49 AM
It was not a Silicon Valley company that first removed the chairs from the conference rooms, but it was a technology company. It was Cabletron in New Hampshire. They had to bring chairs in when other companies visited. I can say their meetings were short and to the point.
Posted by: techreseller at Nov 8, 2007 2:46:22 PM
In England, the Queen's Privy Council, including the Queen, has been standing at its monthly meetings since the time of Queen Victoria...
>>>>Why does the Privy Council stand up during meetings?
We understand that this custom in place at Privy Council meetings was initiated by Queen Victoria following the death of the Prince Consort (1861), when she wished to reduce her public duties to the minimum necessary, although there is no documentary evidence. We know that the Prince Consort always attended Councils until his death, and the Council may have stood at the first Council after his death as a mark of respect. All that Queen Victoria needed to do, of course, to ensure that the Council stood was to remain standing herself. Etiquette does not allow sitting while the Sovereign is standing. To this day even The Queen stands at a PC meeting.
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Posted by: 租車 at May 14, 2009 12:39:03 PM
