mhoye

Here's a true fact: nobody hates meetings.

What people hate are badly run, inefficient and unnecessary meetings. They hate working under untrained, undisciplined managers.

Meetings should be short, sharp and essential, but you can go a whole career in tech without ever experiencing that.

https://mastodon.social/@jbrains/116198854560137307

Mar 9 at 3:15pmWeb
Show thread"Musty Bits" McGeeMar 9
@mhoye LOUDER! LOUDER!! LOUDERRRRR!!!!!
Show threadJosh GrantMar 9
@mhoye A long time ago, I read that the reason MBAs, lawyers and military brass run the world is that these people are taught how to run good meetings as a first-class skill
Show threadmhoyeMar 9
@joshin4colours Yeah, I've heard the same thing. I think it's mostly because money, laws and guns are pretty much what runs the engines of capital but it's possibly revealing that those institutions recognize the critical importance of organizing people effectively.
Show threadRon JeffriesMar 9
@joshin4colours @mhoye
If that's true, why are most meetings so terrible?
Show threadtraecerMar 9
@mhoye I recently went through #Agile training and it blew my mind that daily standups should *not exceed 15 minutes*. I have never been on an Agile team where a standup was less than 30 min, & they often last double that.
Show thread"Musty Bits" McGeeMar 9
@traecer @mhoye hrrrnnngg
Show threadJ. B. Rainsberger (he)Mar 11

@traecer Did they actually stand? ;)

I would love to see one of those, if for no other reason, than because it'd be so simple to help.

I've attended dozens of standups that were short and awful, mostly due to everyone reporting status to The One Important Person.

I get it. Again: so simple to help.

Show threadJ. B. Rainsberger (he)Mar 11
@traecer I coach teenagers in a sport. We have standup meetings (or something very like it). I routinely ask them to tell/talk to each other instead of to me. They sometimes need the reminder, but then they start doing it.
Show threadMatilda LoveMar 9
@mhoye if literally 100% of meetings in many careers are the bad kind then maybe "i hate meetings" is not an unfair generalization
Show threadmhoyeMar 9
@matildalove I feel strongly that change is preceded by a language of accountability.
Show threadMichael BaconMar 9

@mhoye

I have to be a very mild pedant about "nobody" hating meetings. Some people really and truly do—people with social anxiety or various forms of neurodivergence—but about 90% of the people who "hate meetings" do so for exactly the reason you state.

Show threadmhoyeMar 9
@MichaelTBacon I respectfully disagree. A well-run meeting accommodates the needs of its participants, whatever their particular flavor of neurospicyness.
Show threadMichael BaconMar 9
@mhoye That's a very fair point.
Show threadPeter LudemannMar 9
@mhoye I had the temerity once of raising significant points in a design meeting and was scolded by my manager afterwards for that. In my defence, I foresaw being stuck with attempting to clean up the mess in the future.
Show threadSFaulkenMar 9
@mhoye @arichtman I’ll be honest, most of my career was in blue collar work, and I can pretty well say that I hate meetings, I’ve been in ones that were well run, and still came away with nothing useful. But I can recognize that they’re productive endeavors for some folks, when done well
Show threadJ. B. Rainsberger (he)Mar 12

@mhoye That's a fine summary of Lencioni's _Death by Meeting_. Here's the book-length version: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0787968056?tag=jbrains.ca-20

If they hate your meetings, then you can change your meetings so that they love them. No, really.

Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business (J-B Lencioni Series): Lencioni, Patrick M.: 8601404616433: Amazon.com: Books

Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business (J-B Lencioni Series) [Lencioni, Patrick M.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business (J-B Lencioni Series)

Show threadSweet Home Alaberta 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇲🇽Mar 12

@mhoye
Heard after yesterday's meeting: "that's 1.5 hours of our life we will never get back"

1.5 hr x 200 people = 350 hours of anti-productivity action

Show threadUkeleleEricMar 12
@mhoye not just in tech, or even business. My brother works in 'Network Rail' in UK, and has sat through entire meetings when he's had almost nothing to say because the vast majority of the agenda doesn't affect him and he can't comment as he doesn't know anything about those areas. But he has to pay attention for the 1 point on the agenda that touches on something that he does know. Another example - our church council meeting never over-runs by more than 1 minute, and AOB items time limited.