There are a range of reasons that result in a meeting being held when there is no real need for one. Key amongst these are 1 1. Habit Where, for example, a particular meeting has always taken place for 2 hours on the third Friday of the month. The reason for actually holding it has been lost in the mists of time (or the person whose idea it was is no longer around)
2. Justification of existence A meeting purely to demonstrate how expert someone is at holding meetings; or the skill they possess within their role. Possibly, simply to avoid doing other things!
3. Taking cop-out solutions Rather than take decisive action, or deal with a problem caused by an individual - let's get together and discuss it. A meeting is often an alternative to taking action 4. When you are not ready It’s not unknown to end up in a meeting where all the necessary information isn’t to hand; or one or more of the participants (including the chair) hasn’t had enough time to effectively prepare 5. To “rubber-stamp” a decision Theoretically, the people attending are there to reach a decision. In reality, the leader of the group expects nothing more than a confirmation of what they have already decided. A waste of time 6. To tackle the unimportant Tied to justifying existence, time is wasted with matters which simply don’t need to be subject to a meeting. It can also be caused if the person who needs to make a decision or decide on a course of action is unwilling to do so on their own 7. When the outcome will simply be a battle If people have taken entrenched positions over some matter - and are unwilling to listen or consider any points raised by “the other side”; then a meeting alone isn’t going to help. The problems need to be dealt with before any meeting can be of use You'll be able to think of others - it's unimportant what the reason is. If a meeting does not have a clear and useful purpose - it simply should not take place! At the end of any meeting, all the participants must feel that something of value has been achieved; that their time has been well spent.
7 key reasons for NOT holding a meeting - To learn more about this author, visit Gordon Veniard's Website.
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