Have you said it? More importantly, has it been whispered in the hallway after your meeting?
Why? What are the criteria for choosing a meeting over an email blast?
If your purpose is simply to share information, an email is often faster and more respectful of everyone’s time. The unfortunate truth is that often a meeting is biased toward optimizing the leader’s time. A “quick” verbal blast may feel more efficient than composing an email, but a thoughtful email might have enhanced everyone’s performance – more thorough, clearer, and with less chance for ambiguity.
Meetings are most valuable when they help people do something they couldn’t do alone: solve a problem, make a decision, build understanding, or wrestle with uncertainty.
Before sending a meeting invite, ask:
“What requires us to think together?”
When you have a need that requires honest-to-goodness realtime exchange, then design for that. Plan how to elicit input and perspective, not an in-person information blast.
The best meetings don’t just communicate information. They facilitate interaction.
