My how communication has changed

First it was the phone, once upon a time it was a new technology that altered how people communicated in a life changing way. Now it is the internet. Only the internet has a much greater impact.

Not only has emailed revolutionized the way we communicate, but the internet itself has opened up a chasm of different effective and more productive ways to communicate. Wiki’s, instant messaging, forums, blogs, social networks, email, virtual conferencing, chat rooms, the list goes on.

Yet some people want to stick fast to an age old worn and torn method, the meeting. I have never been a huge fan of meetings, they suck up way more time than they are productive. Travel, preparation, concentration shift (twice), delays, small talk… often times you spend more time with the tasks surrounding the meeting than meetings themselves.

Granted there are times where meetings simply are the only way to accomplish specific tasks, and are completely valid. However they are performed way too often.

Seth Godin recommends skipping at least one meeting a week, see how it impacts you for better or worse. My estimate is that in almost every occasion you can find better ways to communicate the same information quicker and more clear than holding another meeting. Work schedules, reporting, and continual information exchange will save everyone time and keep people updated all along a project not just at specific intervals.

At BlogFire we use project Wiki’s that allow clients and internal contractors alike to watch and update the progress of the project with out requiring a two - three hour disruption. However there are many ways to archive the same effect and cut down on unnecessary meetings.