Hello from Hamburg,
The sheer number of complaints, surveys, and pieces of advice on the topic of meetings stands in stark contrast to their quality. It’s been said a thousand times that we should carefully consider why a meeting is even necessary. That meetings must start and end on time, have a clear topic and agenda, and should only include participants who can make a genuine contribution. There’s also no shortage of exemplary models that counter the everyday meeting madness, such as that of the e-commerce platform Shopify, which has declared Wednesday a meeting-free day and banned all meetings involving more than two people. Or Amazon’s “two-pizza rule,” which limits the number of meeting participants to a group that can be fed by two pizzas. Or Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan, who recently called for the complete elimination of internal meetings, since they serve only as a way to pass the time.
Despite the abundance of good advice, the quality of meetings doesn’t seem to be improving. Video calls—which have become part of everyday work life since the COVID-19 pandemic—have only exacerbated this dismal situation. During Zoom calls, it’s become commonplace to answer emails or send Slack messages about what a silly remark colleague Müller just made again. Microsoft’s latest finding—that the number of Teams meetings tripled between 2020 and 2023—is just as unsurprising as the accompanying survey. The survey revealed that more than half of those surveyed are dissatisfied with the effectiveness and efficiency of meetings: often, the next steps are unclear by the end of the meeting. Or, afterward, participants were unable to summarize what the outcome of the meeting was.
One aspect that is often overlooked in common complaints about meetings—and that creates uncertainty—is a culture of discussion that frequently leaves much to be desired. From what I’ve observed, this applies at all levels, from shareholder meetings to supervisory board and executive board meetings, right down to management meetings. There is a lack of adherence to simple ground rules, such as letting others finish speaking and not interrupting in the heat of the moment. Or staying on topic, getting to the point, and not jumping from one topic to another: “Now I’ve lost my train of thought” (an actual quote from repeat offenders). Or the bad habit of feeling compelled to provide immediate answers to questions that arise, which often leads to digressions or even results in justifications that add nothing to the matter at hand. This ties into the difficulty—particularly evident in strategic meetings—of maintaining the thematic focus and the necessary level of discussion: “Which product segment should we focus on in the coming years?” Answer: “We finally need to change the package sizes for Product A. I’ve been saying that all along.” Endless monologues are also common, causing the other participants to roll their eyes inwardly.
I am not suggesting that the lack of discipline in discussions—which is frequently observed—is due to unwillingness or inability. Rather, the reason for this carelessness may lie in the fact that leaders are often unaware of just how significant their role as role models is, both in speech and in writing. It shapes the organization’s leadership culture when managers invited to discuss an agenda item at an executive meeting see that the participants simply blurt out whatever comes to mind—instead of thinking before speaking and exercising self-discipline. “If they do that, then I can too…”
My thesis: One aspect that is often overlooked in the widespread complaints about meetings—and that creates uncertainty—is a culture of discussion that leaves much to be desired. My appeal: Let’s take more time to gather our thoughts. Let’s choose our words more carefully. Let’s direct questions that arise but are off-topic to the appropriate forum, rather than trying in vain to prove our enthusiasm with rambling answers.
Incidentally, AI—the panacea—also promises to offer a solution when it comes to meetings. For example, the chatbot Otter offers, among other things, an AI Meeting Agent that provides live, verbal responses to questions during meetings. Zoom’s founder and CEO, Eric Yuan, predicts a near future in which employees will send digital twins to meetings, where they’ll interact with other avatars. Will they let each other finish speaking? And will the avatars have a better understanding of where the company is headed after the meeting?
