How do you hack meetings?

Question

I know many of us hate meetings. However, sometimes it is impossible to avoid classical 3-10 person meetings. I think we would all gain from making them better, so I feel it is worth asking : How do you make meetings more efficient for your team or your organisation ? Which actions do you do to contribute the most as an leader or as a participant ? Any ressource to improve the fastest on the subject ?

onion2k · Accepted Answer

Pretty much every developer I've worked with who claimed to hate meetings also believed they were exceptional and often refused to admit when they were wrong. This may be a coincidence of course, but I suspect you only stop hating meetings when you understand the benefits of collaboration and develop a willingness to accept other people's input on whatever you're working on as a constructive and positive thing instead of a negative force designed to hold your brilliance back.
As a first step I would recommend to anyone who hates meetings should ask themselves why they hate them, and if it's really the meeting that's the problem.
That's not to say there's no such thing as a bad meeting. Never have a meeting that doesn't have an agenda and a goal. If you're leading, keep it focused and on track. Leaving a meeting without a resolution shouldn't happen.