Meetings, better
There’s this meme going around at the moment…
When I first read that, I was in agreement. Oh yes. Absolutely. Then I gave it some thought. Isn’t this meme telling us that when we spend time collaborating with others it’s a waste of my time and yours? Or that when we collaborate we take too long about it. Or something as basic as, when I come to your meeting, I don’t enjoy it.
It’s easy to underestimate the sheer number of reasons people come together in the first place. This link to a taxonomy of meetings gives a brilliant overview.
It covers no fewer than 16 types of meetings and workshops, giving over 50 objectives for coming together and classifies sessions as either congenial, formal or intense. I am sure different taxonomies are available, but you get the picture. The words meeting or workshop don’t quite cover the complex and very human process we are engaged in.
How often are you clear what type of gathering you are running, or going to? How often have you matched the format of the collaborative activities to the meeting’s purpose? What kind of meetings and workshops do you spend or pass much of your time in?
