Meetings That Don’t Suck
Your Guide to Effective and Meaningful Discussions
I found myself in a curious meeting not too long ago, seated across from an engineer who regarded my tightly packed calendar with disdain. It was a familiar refrain, one I’d heard more times than I cared to count. “Your calendar looks insane,” he remarked. I leaned back and offered my usual response: “Whenever you can’t find a slot, just send me a message. If it’s important, I’ll make time.”
He nodded, somewhat incredulously, then threw me a curveball. “Honestly,” he confessed, “if I had to spend my entire day in meetings like this, I’d quit my job.”
It wasn’t the first time such words had reached my ears, but on that particular day, they whispered to me differently. Lately, I’d been grappling with what felt like a pervasive “we hate meetings” attitude among everyone. It was a curious paradox — a world where meetings were despised by all and yet attended by everyone. I realized I had also fallen prey to this trend. When people asked how my day was going, I’d often respond with an exasperated sigh and offered a curt “Just meetings.” It was a response that didn’t sit well with me, I wasn’t proud of it, especially considering that, in truth, meetings were my job. And I love my job.
So, I couldn’t help but respond, “Meetings are my job. It’s what I signed up for. If someone…
