September 19, 2007
Meetings not useless, after all
In his blog, Marginal Revolutions, economist Tyler Cowen opined yesterday that meetings are not in fact entirely useless, boring, time-wasting and soul-destroying, quoting his piece in the October 1 issues of Forbes (free registration required)
Meetings also confer a sense of control. Attendees feel like insiders who have a real voice in decisions. This boosts their motivation to implement ideas discussed as a group. For this reason it is especially important to listen to the blowhards and the obstructionists, who otherwise would pursue their own agendas rather than support a common plan. ...meetings reaffirm the value of the individual to the company. When the time comes for the boss to offer criticism or dock a bonus, a worker who has been to many meetings is more likely to take the feedback in a constructive spirit and respond with improvement rather than resentment.
Cowen sums this up on his blog by saying, "In other words, meetings are fundamentally a form of 'social theater' and should be analyzed as such."
Most of the comments on Marginal Revolutions really let Cowen have it over this one, calling him out of touch or worse, but Forbes did publish it - what gives? In business, we love to complain about meetings - except the ones we call and run. Most people agree that there are too many or that they're too long or too many people are invited, but few people are willing to cancel their own meetings, cut them short or butt out. Maybe we do like our limelight.
Organizational Processes or Organizational Behavior is the course at business school that gets no respect, but those who actually took the shrinkwrap off the reading packet will see a germ of truth in Cowen's heretical hypothesis. Inclusion (or as cynics say, the perception of inclusion) is an important motivator for many people, and a great lubricant for organizational progress. If only it didn't take to much time to include everybody in all those meetings.
So Tyler, you go and "analyze" meetings as theater all you want, but remember, some of us have to live in this theater for hours and hours every day - got any advice on how to make it to the next act?
Posted by David Karp
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Comments
It’s amazing. I like it. Sounds good to me, even though I can’t agree with everything< that is written here
Posted by TheTomMan on April 06, 2008
One afternoon, I was in the backyard hanging the laundry when an old, tired-looking dog wandered into the yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home. But when I walked into the house, he followed me, sauntered down the hall and fell asleep in a corner. An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back. He resumed his position in the hallway and slept for an hour.
This continued for several weeks. Curious, I pinned a note to his collar: "Every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap. "
The next day he arrived with a different note pinned to his collar: "He lives in a home with ten children - he's trying to catch up on his sleep."
I cried from laughter
Sorry, if not left a message on Rules.
Posted by Melissik on May 02, 2008
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