I don’t know when meetings became such a thing. I really don’t remember. It just suddenly seemed like they were around a lot.

For me personally, a meeting should be short and to the point. Share some new information and directions, ask for questions, see if everyone is equipped, and off we go. Sure, throw in a little encouragement, something fun,  a couple of snacks once in  a while and we are good.

I used to think people had meetings in order to justify their job. See, I’m of the contingent that thinks all jobs are not necessary or needed. We could do a heck of a lot of more efficient work if we streamlined things. We have too many supervisors and not enough people doing the grunt work. I’m convinced that scheduling and conducting meetings make up a good portion of some of the jobs of people. 

I’d like the statistics of how effective they are, if such statistics even exist.

Still, I relate to people who think meetings are necessary because you can’t rely on people to read emails or follow instructions. People have no patience and want to scan and skim directions. In order to avoid misunderstanding and maybe even dangerous outcomes, some folks think it’s better to just meet in person and hash it out.

I get it. Meetings, in that respect, may be needed.

But I also think you have control freaks, master delegators who are bossy and always take charge, who feel that meetings are a way for them to hold court and dole out responsibilities. These are the same people who like to keep piling on responsibility; the same people who never know what they are asking or indeed, how much they are asking a person to do.

But I digress and that’s another column. Suffice to say those types of people like the meeting.

I’ve had supervisors and bosses who are “meeting happy,” and I’ve had some  who aren’t. The ones who aren’t only have meetings to satisfy the edicts of the upper echelon. The ones who are have countless meetings and encourage side meetings as well.

When I was getting my graduate degrees, our classes would often be broken up into small groups. Almost always and ad nauseum, we teachers were asked to “share what is going on in our classes.” We spent so much time telling others what we did in our classes. Furthermore, we all knew darned good and well that most of those ideas we had came from some other teacher. 

Why were we sharing these ideas over and over?

One of my colleagues looked at me one day and said “I’m just about ‘shared out.’” My sentiments exactly.

I’m currently working with a group of people who have the right ideas about meetings. We have only the required staff meetings.   The persons in charge value our time and make us feel our input is important. We follow an agenda, we move quickly, we ask the necessary questions and we are finished. Things that can be taken care of with a quick phone call, email or text are taken care of that way. Meetings are kept to a minimum and hallelujah!

This mindset makes people feel valued and trusted.  This mindset makes people think the people in charge can depend on them to figure it out and move it along.

I talked with a colleague last year about my dislike of meetings, and she made a good point. She said “You don’t like meetings unless they are necessary and productive.”  

That’s exactly it. And I’ll bet you most folks in the world agree.