Responses to “The Strategic Value of Meetings”

September 30th, 2007

In response to last Sunday’s post of the strategic value of meetings, Bob weighed in with a couple of other suggestions

Discuss (in a personal meeting) with the people in charge of the meetings what their goal and ajenda is, and if they are open to hearing from me lay out a non-emotional, non-judgemental list of what I think could improve the meetings based on what their stated goals are;

Give my input about what I think would be a better use of company time/resources demonstrating what the pay off is from my persepctive;

Depending on my standing in the pecking order, employ skills to help focus and move things along, or keep a low profile;

Try to maintain collaborative and positive relationships with as many co workers as possible;

Finally, if I can’t find the leverage to shift the culture from toxic to productive, I get very busy trying to learn why I missed the true nature of this company when I was deciding to hire on, develop a job search strategy, and get out of Dodge. Life is too short–and too full of opportunities–to waste it where I don’t fit in, there is a lack of focus and teamwork, and mutual respect is lacking.

Bob brought up a couple of good points that I hadn’t considered. First is that if you have a good enough relationship with the people who run the meetings, you can meet with them directly to discuss the value of meetings and your ideas for improving them.

Second is that the quality of management can have a lot to say about the organization itself. If the meetings are poorly run, what other ways is the organization wasting your time or holding back the development of your skills?

It’s definitely something to think on. In today’s world it seems like no one (in my generation) stays at a job more than 5 years or so. What is the optimal length of time and how do you decide when it’s time to move on?

I’ve generally used the rule that when you are past the peak of learning and growth you should start to look elsewhere, but the location of that peak has as much to do with the individual as the company. Perhaps passing the learning peak is a sign of personal complacency more than limited options.

That’s it for this mornings ponderables.

-zot

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