Stop moaning about meetings!
From me and my soapbox
Recent data from Microsoft shows that hybrid/remote workers spend more than 50% of their time in meetings. (This is on average - as a rule the more senior you are, the more time you spend in meetings)
Cue predictable responses about how to cut the number of meetings you have and what a waste of time they are and how we could all be getting much more work done without them.
Which I find really annoying and short sighted.
For most of us, collaboration is essential to getting our job done.
Research shows that companies that promote collaborative working are 5 times more likely to be high performing.
We could just hunker down on our own and churn stuff out, but it's unlikely to be the best it could be without some fresh input. It might miss a crucial point or duplicate something that someone else has already done.
Research also shows that morale is higher in collaborative cultures. We are social creatures who benefit from feeling connected to others.
All of which means that talking to other people is essential to be effective. Which means meetings are essential.
I wonder whether part of the issue is that, if you're working from home, a time gets put in your calendar and therefore feels like a meeting when really it's just a quick catch up with someone else. Maybe we should stop calling them meetings and just call them conversations.
Either way, it is usually a lot nicer and more productive than a long email chain!
By all means let's look at running meetings more effectively, and using other tools when appropriate. But let's not start from the lazy assumption that talking to our colleagues is a waste of time.