The latest Atlassian Work Check Podcast is out and it's another great one -Does your team need a regular No Meeting Day? Give a listen and weigh in with your own comments below.
And as usual, lots of good arguments on both sides. I won't spoil who won the debate before you listen, but here's my take on the question.
Organizations are full of different personalities, as is life. I think some people actually thrive on meetings and love the camaraderie and time together, even if things aren't all that productive sometimes. Others cringe at the thought of any type of meeting.
So, to some extent, that might describe which side of the fence some people come down on. Another thing (as brought up in the podcast) is a question of control. Do I get to control my own time and schedule? Or should a full day be blocked out regardless?
For me, I think most organizations have too many meetings as a whole. Jira should be a great way to reduce if not eliminate most, if not all, status meetings. Your project status should be easily viewable in Jira. On the other hand, collaboration is essential. But do you really need meetings to force collaboration? Or should it happen organically between those involved?
Is a full day of no meetings too much? I don't think so, but maybe there is a more flexible solution. Maybe have two 4 hour blocks of no meetings during the week instead of a single day. Let's face it, rarely will you need 8 full hours every week to solve a single problem. Just the fact that you have 8 focused hours of work time a week is huge. It's a Developer's dream and probably a Marketer's nightmare. :-)
What are your thoughts?
John Funk
Jira Systems Administrator
ProVision Systems
Dubai, UAE
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