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Believe in meetings?

By ssampath ·
I have a manager who detests meetings and
thinks of them as a waste of time. I, on
the other hand, think that meetings is a
ground for exchange of ideas, people from
other projects get to know what one does
in a group etc. I think that holdingmeetings once in week would be a healthy
practice. It also gives us a perspective on
how our groups should be heading in the
right direction. Even companies, startups
mostly, that are hard pressed for time
believe in meetings and exchange of ideas. Any ideas for or against this thought
are encouraged. I really want to get some
feedback on what the corporate sort of
corporate culture is prevalent out there.
A true manager, according to me, should
keeps his subordinates adequately informed
about what goes on in his/her group and
bring together people with common subject
interests.

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Believe in meetings?

by avachon In reply to Believe in meetings?

I think it is very important to keep employees informed about organizational changes, project updates, technical changes and so on. This keeps erroneous information from circulating in the organization and helps to minimize employee gossip caused bythe "what's going on" syndrome. I suspect the manager who detests meetings does so because they have been unfocused, directionless or presentations have been uninformative or poorly adapted to the intended audience. Povided that meetings do have a clear focus they present a forum for discussion/brainstorming. While "exchanging ideas" is laudable, it should take place within a structured situation. It often helps to circulate an "agenda" of main issues to be discussed so people are prepared and are not trying to assess ideas off the cuff.
We do hold weekly meetings that vary in length. It's an effective way to present consistent information to all people and design workable plans.

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Believe in meetings?

by ssampath In reply to Believe in meetings?

You rightly pointed out the employee gossip is a direct consequence of the lack of coordination within the group. Also, the manager who does not hold meetings, I have noticed, keeps all the ideas close to his chest. He has the process clearly laid out in his head, but not sharing it with his people makes them clueless thus breeding ill-will amongst his group members. Well, hope I could use some of your points when I give my feedback to my project manager.

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Believe in meetings?

by kyerrid In reply to Believe in meetings?

I believe the key to meetings is to define the agenda well in advance. In your situation, if you want to have a meeting to exchange creative ideas, solicit a topic from your peers, and allow them to lead/present a forum. Not only does this give everyone the information, it also gives the employee experience in soft skills (where many I.T. professionals lack). Invite the manager, but don't force him. Show him/her that the meetings are productive, and he should change his mind.

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Believe in meetings?

by ssampath In reply to Believe in meetings?

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