There's a big elephant in the office today that's becoming harder to ignore—meetings....
There's a big elephant in the office today that's becoming harder to ignore—meetings.
Even the best meetings can eat up massive person-hours, but those really awful ones will just kill you. You know the type.
Those time-wasting, rudderless, repetitious, zombie meetings where "deep dives," "drill downs," and "face time" often mean much is debated, little is accomplished, and everybody leaves feeling broken--AND, often as not, late for their next meeting.
In the premiere of this all-new presentation, Merlin Mann attacks Bad Meeting Culture with the same brand of practical, funny, and thought-provoking advice that his popular Inbox Zero talks brought to the topic of email.
You'll learn:
- what got us into this meeting mess - why meetings have special powers to waste time at scale - how "The 'Meh' Virus" propogates - why even scrums and one-on-ones aren't immune - how your meeting needs a parent - 10 insanely practical tactics for improving your own meetings--starting today
Performance People Pty Ltd at Performance People Pty LtdAwesome. As a consultant I get invited to a lot less meetings than I did when I was 'in-house'. This may be because I cost direct dollars; or maybe because I'm an outsider, Perhaps we need to treat attendees as if we were paying them by the hour; or maybe we should think of them as outsiders.
Hell
is other people.
Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit (1944)
Hell
is other people’s
meetings.
Me, Here (2010)
“Tim”
[kill me hand]
Here’s the
problem.
Nobody thinks
their meetings
suck.
Ask around.
Treating
The “Meh”
VIRUS
(Before it kills again.)
There are many
crummy reasons
to call a meeting.
Bored
Dunno what else to do
Everybody calls meetings
Free snacks
Cool new laser pointer
Prefer to be seated
Need to just think out loud
Light in here’s so flattering
Not sure
Meetings are what I “do.”
For someone on the maker’s
schedule, having a meeting is
like throwing an exception.
It doesn’t merely cause you
to switch from one task to
another; it changes the
mode in which you work.
Paul Graham
bit.ly/9KHXHf
Where’s it hurt, people?
• Distracted & Bored
• Unprepared
• Apathetic
• Late, Late, Late
• Ragnarök
Ow. This does hurt.
• Lack of Focus
• Lack of Preparation
• Lack of Care
• Lack of Respect
• Lack of Parenting
Buh?
“Parenting?”
Yes.
“Parenting.”
Every meeting needs a
Parent
Because, it’s not all about
You
any more.
(Sorry.)
Key Thing
Don’t wait for others
to do the right thing.
You first.
Demand
First-Person
Transitive
“I verb noun.”
Verbs
are your job.
So, why not verb
your meetings?
Two
Heroes.
MR. MASON MR. HAND
PHOTO: THOMAS HAWK (RAY WALSTON)
http://i-0.us/cYTsdJ PHOTO: FAST TIMES
Dmytro Ponomar’ov
It's just a thought.
...Geoff 2 years ago