I have an unpopular opinion. I love meetings. There I said it. I get it, people hate meetings. But hear me out… when done right, they’re actually brilliant. Meetings are a space for dialogue. They encourage collaboration and cooperation. You can look somebody in the eye and get body language cues. You can interrogate ideas, dig deeper into data, and see things from different perspectives. Emails, instant messaging, and written reports just don’t offer the level of engagement that meetings provide. But before we move on, let’s define what kind of meetings I’m talking about. Workshops, seminars, creative charrettes, site walks, inspections, hand-over, performance reviews, crisis meetings, one-on-ones etc.. are not “meetings” within the context of this article. A hand-over meeting isn’t optional, it’s part of your project deliverables. I’m referring to your run-of-the-mill project meetings, where you might invite a bunch of people into a meeting room for an hour, or two hours, following some sort of agenda, and with a bit of luck, decisions are being made. There are reasons why people dislike these run-of-the-mill meetings. Most meetings are unfocused, go off-topic, or drag on way too long. You’ve got people playing on their phones, waiting for their
