Recently I was to meet a friend for some work. He felt we meet after working hours at his office, so we could talk at ease. When I reached, he wasn’t at his desk and the staff outside the training room informed me wisely “Meeting chalu hai, lagta hai 8 baje tak chalegi, Boss sabki ‘class’ le rahe hai. Aap friend ko whatsapp karo !” Having worked for decades in a Bank, I knew what ‘Class Lena’ meant if Boss wasn’t in a happy mood. In reply to the message my friend asked me to wait or come back after about one hour.
The wait seemed endless to me, counting minutes, then hours. The meeting went on for excruciating 125 Mts, the length of an OTT film, which if chosen well, could’ve engaged & spurred staff to action for the results that the Boss was so laboriously harping upon. The indispensable ‘meeting’ culture is still alive in our offices despite the all round debate raging on about work-life balance, extended working hours & employee fatigue affecting productivity. Late sittings and working 12-14 hours is still signifying diligence.
Winding the clock back to the 1980s and our early work-years, for us it was all ‘baptism by fire’ working through the week. In those days, Saturday half-day was converted into a full day for backlog clearance and Sunday reserved for full day meetings with Higher Authorities. Relentless one-way tirades on management’s unfulfilled expectations from operating teams, further dented officer morale. After great persuasion by Associations, Sunday meets stopped. With holidays on each 2nd & 4th Saturday, banker’s were happy. Then ‘Covid’ came – a ‘WFH’ culture & all day on-line meetings have since taken over !
Official meetings generally revolve around focused discussions & the steps to be taken on issues for determining the way forward & presided by Seniors to groups of officials. The word is being loosely used by almost everyone. Often when you call the answer is ‘Will call later, am in a meeting’ even if people are engaged in a chat in the canteen or fixing errands or getting the car repaired but wouldn’t like to be disturbed. ‘Customer Care’ is uncaring when you call – the reply you’ll get ‘All operatives are presently busy.’
Meetings in the offices are just as important as having interactions with family members from time to time, to remain updated on things. Systems are in place for sending directives through written communications in form of circulars, DO letters which reach employees’ desks but it’s not always ensured that the contents are read & assimilated. Reminders have to be sent periodically. Face to face meetings with staff can do away with one-sided talk and involve healthy interactions & views rather than a monologue.
Steve Jobs said ‘Meetings must achieve a purpose’. Discussions must result in decision-making. Aimless ‘end of day’ harangue, can’t be a recipe for the organizational success !
Working on Living 