Meetings, Oi
People generally hate meetings. They will say one of two things about them. Either they will say, "What a waste of time, we did not get anything done there." Or they will say, "What a waste of time, I have so many better things to be doing with my time than sitting in meetings. I have stuff to get done." I love meetings. This is the time of year that there are more meetings for us. One reason for this is because we are between semesters, so there is more time to focus on things that get laid aside during the semester. The other reason is that there are many things scheduled to be completed during this time of year.
I like meetings because of how important they are for the collaboration between different people and offices within the institution. I will admit they can sometimes be painful. We have to listen to people say things we have already heard, or we already know. We have to listen to people lay out a full argument for something we cannot do, or worse, for something we disagree with. Meetings can be very hard and sometimes divisive. You can learn things that you did not want to know if you end up at the wrong meeting.
I think they are important, especially, for institutions with offsite staff. In the business world, there is much debate about allowing employees to work from home. This is possible because of the technology we have for collaborating and communicating online. For typical office jobs, especially those dealing with data entry or computer services, there is no logistical reason these employees need to come to the office. Google is one company that experimented with offsite employees. Many companies have concluded that having staff work from home is not very productive. I can say from my own experience that I have a to-do-list for home and a to-do-list for work. When I have worked from home, it is hard to focus on the correct one or not confuse them.
The only way to fight the inherent inefficiencies in office work is to have meetings. This works very well for me because I have to report to each one. So I have an external motivator forcing me to have correct information inputted in a timely way. I need to show the progress I have made in my tasks to others, regularly. This also gives a check and balance to my work. It helps to identify other things I need to accomplish or focus on and I am given direction to work on those things. It identifies and prioritizes my list of items I need to do. It keeps me in tune with the needs of the whole institution rather than working as an independent agent within the institution.
In this way, I also receive validation that my work is important. This is another of those tricky things for any employee, but especially for those who work offsite. Because I work onsite I have opportunities every day for informal conversation with other employees about things that are going on with ILT. For some employees, the only time this happens is at a meeting. We all need to know that the work we do is important for the mission of the organization we are working for. This is even more important for a non-profit. The mission is everything and we are all willing to sacrifice in any way we can for the mission. These meetings keep us connected to that. They remind us what we are here for.
Poorly run meetings and having meetings for the sake of meeting can sap the life out of any employee. But meetings that engage in the direction and planning of the institution are important for each employee so that they feel a part of that trajectory and have validation that they are added to the institution's ability to follow it. Today I will be in meetings from 1:00 until 5:00. Normally, this would be an overwhelming thought. However, I have put work into preparing for these meeting and I am a little excited about what might come from them and how they will affect the future of who ILT will be.
I like meetings because of how important they are for the collaboration between different people and offices within the institution. I will admit they can sometimes be painful. We have to listen to people say things we have already heard, or we already know. We have to listen to people lay out a full argument for something we cannot do, or worse, for something we disagree with. Meetings can be very hard and sometimes divisive. You can learn things that you did not want to know if you end up at the wrong meeting.
I think they are important, especially, for institutions with offsite staff. In the business world, there is much debate about allowing employees to work from home. This is possible because of the technology we have for collaborating and communicating online. For typical office jobs, especially those dealing with data entry or computer services, there is no logistical reason these employees need to come to the office. Google is one company that experimented with offsite employees. Many companies have concluded that having staff work from home is not very productive. I can say from my own experience that I have a to-do-list for home and a to-do-list for work. When I have worked from home, it is hard to focus on the correct one or not confuse them.
The only way to fight the inherent inefficiencies in office work is to have meetings. This works very well for me because I have to report to each one. So I have an external motivator forcing me to have correct information inputted in a timely way. I need to show the progress I have made in my tasks to others, regularly. This also gives a check and balance to my work. It helps to identify other things I need to accomplish or focus on and I am given direction to work on those things. It identifies and prioritizes my list of items I need to do. It keeps me in tune with the needs of the whole institution rather than working as an independent agent within the institution.
In this way, I also receive validation that my work is important. This is another of those tricky things for any employee, but especially for those who work offsite. Because I work onsite I have opportunities every day for informal conversation with other employees about things that are going on with ILT. For some employees, the only time this happens is at a meeting. We all need to know that the work we do is important for the mission of the organization we are working for. This is even more important for a non-profit. The mission is everything and we are all willing to sacrifice in any way we can for the mission. These meetings keep us connected to that. They remind us what we are here for.
Poorly run meetings and having meetings for the sake of meeting can sap the life out of any employee. But meetings that engage in the direction and planning of the institution are important for each employee so that they feel a part of that trajectory and have validation that they are added to the institution's ability to follow it. Today I will be in meetings from 1:00 until 5:00. Normally, this would be an overwhelming thought. However, I have put work into preparing for these meeting and I am a little excited about what might come from them and how they will affect the future of who ILT will be.
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