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> Meetings are how humans share state. We've just found better ways to share state, like emails and chat apps. They don't require synchronous attendance, they
by hirundo 4y ago
> Meetings are how humans share state.
We've just found better ways to share state, like emails and chat apps. They don't require synchronous attendance, they allow more space for thought and correction, and they are naturally part of a record that you can reference and copy.
These forms don't share emotional state as well as synchronous presence and so don't completely replace it. But the modern workplace has less use for sharing emotional state than other things.
- zdragnar 4y agoI go back and forth on this. On the one hand, I detest excessive standup meetings and sprint retros. On the other hand, people do tend to pay a little bit better attention during them compared to "everyone post your status in slack at the end of the day".
- andirk 4y agoThe threat of a meeting helps me make sure I get my shit done beforehand. Sounds childish but it works for me. 10 minute standups first thing in the morning ensure that I get to work on time. A couple jobs ago the company said they wanted people to literally stand at the standups to encourage a quicker status share. Everyone did for a couple days, then eventually I was the only one standing and then the fired me.
- falcolas 4y agoThe very next sentence addresses those other ways. > Most people’s writing skills are not up to replacing the back and forth synchronization that happens in meetings. They may be technically better - for some definition of better - but they're going to be poor replacements in reality.
- radiator 4y agoYou must be working in a magical place where all contributors express themselves clearly in writing and read long emails.