I'm tickled by the idea of someone using that flowchart and determining -- can I contribute a unique perspective? Absolutely! Does my unique perspective have value? No way!
How to Attend Meetings
91–100 of 193 posts
Re: How to Attend Meetings
#92I agree with each and every single slide in this presentation; I do. I also know that in each and every company I have ever worked for, none of this is going to fly. Especially, "Attending meetings is a choice." Just like paying taxes is a choice; got it. --- For decades, I have been asking for agendas; I have asked for clarification on what to do to prepare; I have even suggested that we have solid outcomes. None of…
>doesn't even have solid support for good meeting invite commentary Description is sent along with the initial invite, and for subsequent invites, there's a text box for commentary on the sent emails. Or what are you looking for?
(not the GP) I want a good agenda, which means with markup possible, including links.
Re: How to Attend Meetings
#93I agree with each and every single slide in this presentation; I do. I also know that in each and every company I have ever worked for, none of this is going to fly. Especially, "Attending meetings is a choice." Just like paying taxes is a choice; got it. --- For decades, I have been asking for agendas; I have asked for clarification on what to do to prepare; I have even suggested that we have solid outcomes. None of…
>doesn't even have solid support for good meeting invite commentary Description is sent along with the initial invite, and for subsequent invites, there's a text box for commentary on the sent emails. Or what are you looking for?
We do so much on slack I can safely ignore email at work and just look at meeting notes on Google calendar. I would expect that to include these notes but I’m not sure. Also I agree people won’t read them anyway.
Re: How to Attend Meetings
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
And then you risk people making stupid decisions, which you have to fix later on, because you didn't attend the meeting. Sometimes it's not just about whether others think you should be there.
I echo the parents sentiment - I don’t need to be there for a one hour meeting while 12 people give a perspective on a topic, but if you make the wrong decision I will say no. My job as a higher level manager is to ensure that whoever is there on our behalf avoids stupid decisions being made, and if I can’t delegate that then I need to go myself. Sometimes its unavoidable, and sometimes politics prevail but 95% of th…
This can lead to weird dynamics. A lot of workplaces, no one seems to have direct power (or incentive!) to say "yes" to anything but lots of people (including 3 teams you weren't even aware existed) are able to "provide feedback" or say no.
This leads to all progress being achieved very slowly if at all, or by using the element of surprise and then seeking forgiveness.
Re: How to Attend Meetings
#95I agree with each and every single slide in this presentation; I do. I also know that in each and every company I have ever worked for, none of this is going to fly. Especially, "Attending meetings is a choice." Just like paying taxes is a choice; got it. --- For decades, I have been asking for agendas; I have asked for clarification on what to do to prepare; I have even suggested that we have solid outcomes. None of…
Google Calendar/Workspace does have a cool option to create a Google Doc for notes, that is automatically shared with everybody on the invite.
It’s a great spot to place an agenda, meeting notes, action items, etc.
Re: How to Attend Meetings
#96I wonder if the (AFAIK original to) Bridgewater technique of recording all meetings will spread. One thing I think that would have helped me quite a bit is to have a transcript (with speakers annotated) of a meeting. With a sufficiently advanced LLM summarizing, I could probably a handle a much larger volume of meetings where I needed to know what was going on just as a tail-risk capturer. e.g. if someone has a meeti…
I have tried a few of the LLM solutions. So far for me https://fathom.video is head and shoulders above the rest, excellent speaker annotation and LLM summarization, full video recording and matching video position to transcript (i.e. click on section of transcript to go to that part of the video), reasonable pricing, decent free tier. I have no affiliation at all with Fathom, just enjoy their product!
Re: How to Attend Meetings
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have worked at many companies over my career. From 10s of thousands, to thousands, to hundreds, to tens of employees. There wasn't a SINGLE ONE that would tolerate someone declining EVERY MEETING when the culture does not align to the ideals this presentation outlines. Clearly your experience is different and that's absolutely awesome; consider yourself incredibly fortunate.
> wasn't a SINGLE ONE that would tolerate someone declining EVERY MEETING when the culture does not align to the ideals this presentation outlines Well yes, if the culture doesn't allow it then it's not going to happen. That doesn't mean those cultures don't exist or that they can't be created, even if just in a pocket
I just work here.
Re: How to Attend Meetings
#98The problem with time-bounding is it becomes an obsession with meeting optimization, and the content of the meeting comes secondary. "Ok let's quickly do X Y and Z so the meeting can be over and we can be outta here!" "Hey, it's been 8 minutes and we have only allocated 30 so we need to move to the next topic." Letting meetings be dictated by the clock has the effect of making them feel a bit like reading an executiv…
Could this be handled with an agenda? I'm thinking being candid about the meeting length. "Although I feel like this may take 30 minutes, scheduling a 15 minute buffer for Q&A, we may end early"
Re: How to Attend Meetings
#99I'm tickled by the idea of someone using that flowchart and determining -- can I contribute a unique perspective? Absolutely! Does my unique perspective have value? No way!
Been there with a team that ignores important advice, has an issue that was avoidable, ask for help fixing it, then forget all about it when you give another advice.
Re: How to Attend Meetings
#100How to Attend Meetings - Internal Guidelines from A.G. Sulzberger's Racial Science and Phrenology Blog