How do we make remote meetings not suck? (2018)
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How do we make remote meetings not suck? (2018)
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Re: How do we make remote meetings not suck? (2018)
#2stop having them and rely largely on email for communications that should in fact be email.
Re: How do we make remote meetings not suck? (2018)
#3[flagged]
Re: How do we make remote meetings not suck? (2018)
#4stop having them and rely largely on email for communications that should in fact be email.
Okay, this may sound nuts but I think the only issue with your proposal is that it doesn’t address the reason that this doesn’t happen. Our colleagues do not or do not want to read business communications for the purpose of comprehension for the content of their own work or communication with their colleagues.
I genuinely propose a three strike policy where professional employees are to be fired after three occasions where they demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to read and comprehend important business communications less than two pages or 6 paraphrases in length. This includes emails and internal publications, but not async communication on platforms like Slack, Teams, or non-recorded verbal meetings (digital or otherwise), nor does it include verbal conversations with colleagues in person or otherwise.
I freely admit to wanting a business environment where email communication and content is considered sacred in commercial contexts. Where it’s unacceptable to not only be familiar with but understand well the contents of an email that is now the subject of a meeting or otherwise directly important the content of one’s work.
I’ve tried to right this “meeting should be an email” battle but the reality is shocking: nobody reads anything, for the most part, and when they do, they act like they didn’t.
Reading compression is a faux pa, better to get the accreditation that comes from an in person discussion.
This is the sort of rant that I’m sure I’ve run afoul of as well. But I stand by it regardless. The reason that we have meetings instead of emails is incredible simple: people do not read and comprehend emails.
Re: How do we make remote meetings not suck? (2018)
#5Every meeting starts with an agenda and ends with minutes or don't bother showing up
Or admit that their de facto purpose is to socialize on company time, which is something that should be done but is hard to quantify
Re: How do we make remote meetings not suck? (2018)
#6This article keeps talking about "the caucus problem", but never actually defines it. I couldn't follow the post at all because every problem kept ending with "but this isn't the real problem, the caucus problem is".
Re: How do we make remote meetings not suck? (2018)
#7> So the thing is, human social relationships demand structure.
This is the part I agree with the most. I'm not sure about the rest.
I can only speak from the perspective of a software engineer. Many meetings, especially daily standups, do not prioritize and filter out user stories and tasks causing them to take way too long. People zone out making the meetings less effective. It's basically weaponized on some projects especially when the management doesn't have a clue what's going on. It enables the blame game e.g. "well why didn't you say something during the meeting?"
It's usually pretty clear what should be discussed, but it's rare to see a project manager who looks at the activity stream on Jira or equivalent. There's usually a huge disconnect between management and dev teams in general, even on a relatively "well run" project where everything goes as planned with minimal friction. Devs wind up picking up a lot of slack and just have their own informal meetings amongst themselves to remedy it.
This is terrible long term. Every project I've ever been on inevitably hits a snag and all this unravels into management going into freak out mode when they realize how big these communication gaps have become.
Re: How do we make remote meetings not suck? (2018)
#8stop having them and rely largely on email for communications that should in fact be email.
Okay, this may sound nuts but I think the only issue with your proposal is that it doesn’t address the reason that this doesn’t happen. Our colleagues do not or do not want to read business communications for the purpose of comprehension for the content of their own work or communication with their colleagues. I genuinely propose a three strike policy where professional employees are to be fired after three occasions…
> "This includes emails... but not async communication."
Your failure to communicate clearly here is one of the most ironic and (presumably unintentionally) hilarious things I've read in some time.
Re: How do we make remote meetings not suck? (2018)
#9Make them shorter and more focused.
Re: How do we make remote meetings not suck? (2018)
#10This article keeps talking about "the caucus problem", but never actually defines it. I couldn't follow the post at all because every problem kept ending with "but this isn't the real problem, the caucus problem is".
Same.
I searched a bit online but it doesn’t seem to be a well established term