by John J. Walters
Right from the get-go, I have to admit that I just made up “International Meetings Day.â€Â But it does seem to be true. Yesterday was the first “official†day back at the office from the summer, a time when a lot of companies put things on hold so that people can enjoy their vacations. And what better way to celebrate a return to productivity than a day (or even a short week) filled with unproductive meetings!
I have two theories about this “IMD†phenomenon. Theory number one goes that this week is also often times the first week back at school. In college, this first week was known as “syllabus†week by most students, as our classes were little more than meetings with the professor to discuss the syllabus that we were all more than capable of reading ourselves.
But why read on our own when we knew the teacher was going to waste the first seminar droning on about his classroom policies and course pacing? Everyone just got used to printing their syllabi off at the last second right before class and then waltzing in to sit, listen, be bored, and check out their new classmates. After 4 years of that, maybe we just got in the habit of making the days after Labor Day “meeting days†— that is, time to sit, listen, be bored, and check out our new co-workers.
Of course, this situation could easily be avoided (and sometimes was, by the smarter professors) by a little preparation on the part of the teacher (the meeting creator) and the students (the meeting attendees). Design the syllabus to be something worth the student’s time (like an assignment that would factor into their grade) and they will read it in advance, thus saving the first seminar for real productivity. Just like with meetings — a little preparation goes a long way.
My other theory on IMD is that people are using it as one last chance to enjoy the summer’s lack of productivity. They know they have to get back to work in earnest soon, but why not give themselves a day or so just to sit on their asses and listen to people talk about stuff beforehand? It’s procrastination, pure and simple.
If that’s the case, and if you’re one of the people who actually has to schedule a productive meeting during this time, my advice to you is to be very clear what you expect each and every attendee to bring with them to the meeting in advance. This way they are warned that this isn’t just a grown-up version of syllabus week, where they waddle in wearing their Hawaiian shirts and sunglass tans and listen to the boss talk about what they’re going to do over the next few months. They need to know that they are expected to participate.
“Preparation!†is becoming my rallying cry on this website, but that doesn’t make it less important. Every office employee is expecting to waste this time in pointless meetings just as they have in the past, and it’s your job as a meeting creator to do something about this. So do your prep work and figure out what your meeting is all about; why it needs to be called. If you can’t do that now then postpone it.