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The thing that frustrates me about people who insist on meetings is that they're lazy. We all know we can communicate asynchronously. We all know that giving pe

The thing that frustrates me about people who insist on meetings is that they're lazy. We all know we can communicate asynchronously. We all know that giving people more time to come to conclusions and do research leads to better decisions. And we all know that waiting for everyone to have free time in their schedule in order to make a decision is actively wasteful of current time. But many people continue to use meetings as the only method of group communication. People are creatures of habit. We need a formal change of culture within tech to stop using meetings by default to solve all our problems. We need a manifesto that says exactly when you should use a meeting, and when to use other methods. Take the guesswork out of it so it's second nature.

ebiester 4y ago
Check out the "Death By Meeting" by Patrick Lencioni for his take in a non-tech scenario.
frakt0x90 4y ago
Gitlab does this in their employee handbook. As a guideline they say if you go back and forth 3 times asynchronously, consider a meeting. I don't work there so I don't know how much people adhere to this in practice. https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/communication/#video-calls https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/communication/#video-calls https://about.gitlab.com/company/culture/all-remote/asynchronous/ https://about.gitlab.com/company/culture/all-remote/asynchro...
ehnto 4y ago
Especially considering hybrid remote/office and flexible working hours are becoming common. Asynchronous communication is such an advancement in productivity, documentation and clarity. Since it's all written down by default, and everyone can contribute even if they were away that day or otherwise engaged by work. I think software agencies are inherently better at this, since they don't have to estimate an opportunity cost, the opportunity cost is billable hours that developer is currently not doing because they are in a meeting. I find working at agencies a bit more simple, with a lot less of the Org BS, because their is a level of pragmatism you need to have in order to operate profitably. Even more true if your agency is mostly contractors, because your boss is probably watching money tick away inside their head during sprint planning.
ulisesrmzroche 4y ago
Formal meetings should only be used for either parties or emergencies, and parties are always emergencies, so they take precedence. Ideally!
8589934591 4y ago
Although this my be specific to my org, meetings are an excuse for PMs and non tech to just "talk things out". No requirement comes in written form and no meetings are recorded in written form. This gives them a safe passage to modify the requirements as and when they see fit. Apart from this, for meetings which are not recorded, they can/do always say that they didn't say something when they actually did and when caught red handed they get defensive and live in denial. IMO, written communication helps people articulate it better and hold them accountable as well.

ebiester 4y ago

Check out the "Death By Meeting" by Patrick Lencioni for his take in a non-tech scenario.

frakt0x90 4y ago

Gitlab does this in their employee handbook. As a guideline they say if you go back and forth 3 times asynchronously, consider a meeting. I don't work there so I don't know how much people adhere to this in practice. https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/communication/#video-calls https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/communication/#video-calls https://about.gitlab.com/company/culture/all-remote/asynchronous/ https://about.gitlab.com/company/culture/all-remote/asynchro...

ehnto 4y ago

Especially considering hybrid remote/office and flexible working hours are becoming common. Asynchronous communication is such an advancement in productivity, documentation and clarity. Since it's all written down by default, and everyone can contribute even if they were away that day or otherwise engaged by work. I think software agencies are inherently better at this, since they don't have to estimate an opportunity cost, the opportunity cost is billable hours that developer is currently not doing because they are in a meeting. I find working at agencies a bit more simple, with a lot less of the Org BS, because their is a level of pragmatism you need to have in order to operate profitably. Even more true if your agency is mostly contractors, because your boss is probably watching money tick away inside their head during sprint planning.

ulisesrmzroche 4y ago

Formal meetings should only be used for either parties or emergencies, and parties are always emergencies, so they take precedence. Ideally!

8589934591 4y ago

Although this my be specific to my org, meetings are an excuse for PMs and non tech to just "talk things out". No requirement comes in written form and no meetings are recorded in written form. This gives them a safe passage to modify the requirements as and when they see fit. Apart from this, for meetings which are not recorded, they can/do always say that they didn't say something when they actually did and when caught red handed they get defensive and live in denial. IMO, written communication helps people articulate it better and hold them accountable as well.