Meetings: Status updates versus working sessions

Most people say they hate meetings.

For the most part this disdain is earned.

Meetings are almost always synonymous with status updates.

These are almost always a waste of time.

Your people are presumably literate. They can read and respond to updates, as long as you build enough slack into the organization/working day that they have time to read, and follow up with questions as necessary.

If they aren't literate or chose not to exercise that ability you can always record what you would have written down, and then send that instead, and allow folks to respond to that.

On the other hand you have working sessions. These are generally useful.

These are similar to meetings in that they are synchronous in time and space, but folks are actively working on addressing an issue. This can take the form of brainstorming, but isn't limited to that. These can also take the form of all working collaboratively in real time to solve an issue.

In fact this is often when an organization is working most effectively, though not necessarily efficiently.

Think about the last time you had a serious all-hands issue. You were in a working session in order to address that issue. Some of it was brainstorming, some of it was data gathering, some of it was acting, all in one coherent space to solve a problem as quickly as possible, not just intellectually, but in practice as well.

Take that and harness it.

Shape your meetings to be things that add value, rather than just status updates.

Don't waste your people's time when they can successfully read on their own time. Ensure they're engaged, and using their talents in coordination with others to move the organization forward in the most effective way possible.