Meetings Are Toxic

// September 10th, 2010 // General

There's nothing more toxic to productivity than a meeting. Here's a few reasons why:

  • They break your work day into small, incoherent pieces that disrupt your natural workflow
  • They're usually about words and abstract concepts, not real things (like a piece of code or some interface design)
  • They usually convey an abysmally small amount of information per minute
  • They often contain at least one moron that inevitably gets his turn to waste everyone's time with nonsense
  • They drift off-subject easier than a Chicago cab in heavy snow
  • They frequently have agendas so vague nobody is really sure what they are about
  • They require thorough preparation that people rarely do anyway

For those times when you absolutely must have a meeting (this should be a rare event), stick to these simple rules:

  • Set a 30 minute timer. When it rings, meeting's over. Period.
  • Invite as few people as possible.
  • Never have a meeting without a clear agenda.

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