Threaded meetings

Yesterday I attended (virtually) a global conference on business agility. Lots of good reminders to be a better coach, to be more self-reflective and to view our squads with non-judgmental eyes but to hold up a mirror so they can reflect on themselves more easily.

One talk which I particularly enjoyed was about the power of guided meditation to help a team to get into the right frame of mind for more powerful reflection, for example at the start of a retrospective just to do some breathing exercises and get everyone a bit more relaxed.

What really got me thinking though was the throw-away remark that every-one needs to be more mindful to cope with working life with its ongoing pressures and demands. A list of such pressures was given, including "being in two meetings at the same time".

What fresh idiocy is this?

At first I couldn't even imagine how you would make it work practically. I can't be in two physical meeting rooms at the same time. I can't be in two zoom calls at the same time. And surely no-one really does this do they?

It's such a bad idea. If I'm in two meetings at the same time, I'm not really in either of them. I can't be paying full attention to either meeting, not listening properly, not understanding everything that's going on, so I'm not doing my best work in either. I'm probably wasting my own time, and those of the people around me.

Worse, why did I think I needed to do it anyway? I should be prioritising my time effectively, encouraging good meeting agendas and timekeeping, and I should be thinking about empowering my team and succession planning. Did I really need to be there? Couldn't I have sent someone else to at least ONE of those meetings? Wouldn't that be better for a) both meetings b) good work getting done c) my team's current and future happiness? After all, what would happen if I went on holiday? Got sick? (Oh right, can't do those things as I'm irreplaceable). But what about when I inevitably leave the company, burnt out, and go live in a field somewhere to rethink my life?

When I did a quick search for a picture for this article I realised that people do do this. They use multiple devices to be in two calls at once. Microsoft Teams makes a feature of it. And I recalled where meeting discipline meant one meeting was overrunning but the 2nd hadn't really started so people were in both rather than leave early, and miss something important while waiting for everyone else to turn up.

So this is my plea! Don't do it! It's bad for you. It's bad for your team. It's bad for your company in the long run. Make a stand against the idiocy and don't let it be the norm where you work. I'm thankful it is not the norm where I work today.