It has become common cause to hate on meetings. Most progressive leadership books will tell you they suck. Most employees, apparently, hate them. Agile and distributed and non-hierarchical organisations suggest you cancel them all. Instead, we are told; head to Slack or Teams or Trello or Jira – and then sit down and focus on your work uninterrupted by the tedium of lukewarm tea and Romany Creams.
(Do they still make Romany Creams?)
Well, not so fast. Meetings are awesome. We are social creatures – gathering in groups, sitting round campfires, throwing parties, huddling and brainstorming. These are meetings. And they are a wonderful expression of our humanity, our intimacy and our vulnerability.