All of us go to meetings. But very few meetings produce apparent outcomes, or seem to add value to whatever it is we are supposed to be doing. Very rarely do these meetings actually help us produce identifiable outcomes of value.
To be sure, some of that is by design. My own “why hold a meeting” driver has just three possible outcomes: make a decision, discuss an issue or share information. Only one of those three must have an outcome.
The objective of “discussing an issue” might, or might not, lead to future outcomes or action, but the third reason--to share information--has no outcome other than keeping other stakeholders apprised of what is happening elsewhere in any organization.
As outlined by McKinsey, all collaborations fall into three fairly-similar buckets. We collaborate to make decisions; coordinate our work or share information.
One surefire harbinger of a meeting that should not be held at all is a meeting with no clear agenda, or no agenda at all.
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