Pondermania: Are Meetings Moving the Work—or Monitoring the Workers?

By Neil S. Kohrn

“We need a meeting.”

Before sending the invitation, someone should be able to explain why.

Meetings are necessary. They bring people together to examine information, make decisions, coordinate responsibilities, and resolve obstacles. Their value depends on how clearly those purposes are defined—and what happens afterward.

A full calendar does not establish that useful work is being accomplished.

The location changed. Did the purpose?

Before COVID-19 disrupted office routines, meeting culture could already mean moving between conference rooms, repeating updates, and attending because absence might be noticed.

Remote and hybrid work changed how people gather. They also created legitimate needs for deliberate communication where informal conversations were no longer readily available.

But moving a meeting onto a screen does not clarify its purpose.

Is it helping employees coordinate their responsibilities? Is a decision needed? Or is the meeting primarily reassuring management that everyone is present?

Attendance demonstrates that someone joined a call. It does not establish what they accomplished.

Define the meeting before inviting

The facilitator should provide a brief outline with every invitation:

Time: When will the meeting take place? Length: How much time is allocated? Requested participants: Who needs to attend? Purpose and focus: What will be addressed? Goal: What should the meeting accomplish?

That information allows participants to prepare and understand their expected contribution. Necessary background should be supplied early enough to review.

“Discuss sales” identifies a subject. “Determine how to fulfill the proposed order within the customer’s delivery schedule” establishes a focus and an intended result.

The difference affects who belongs in the meeting, what information is required, and how the time should be used.

Participation should have a purpose

Every participant should understand why their attendance is required and leave with actionable items, clear responsibility, and an expected completion time.

If someone is included solely to receive information, their attendance may be unnecessary. They can instead receive the official meeting notes or a reviewed transcript documenting decisions, actions, responsibilities, and deadlines.

A transcript alone is not an action plan. The facilitator should ensure the official record accurately identifies what was agreed and who must do what.

When an obstacle is being examined, participants should consider possible solutions and their reasoning beforehand, where circumstances permit. Urgent matters must still be raised promptly.

Accountability requires more than visibility

When employees work from home, management still needs to understand progress, availability, and emerging obstacles. Those needs should be addressed through defined expectations.

What result is required? Who is responsible? When is it due? What developments require immediate communication?

A meeting may help answer those questions. Repeated check-ins without clear expectations may simply interrupt the work management wants completed.

The same principle applies in an office. Being visible at a desk—or on a screen—is not a substitute for fulfilling responsibilities.

Change the culture deliberately

Begin by examining recurring meetings. Why does each exist? Does that purpose remain relevant? Are the right people attending? Could the goal be achieved with less interruption?

Consider shorter meetings, different frequencies, written updates, and protected working periods. Replacing meetings with a continuous stream of messages would merely change the source of disruption.

Test adjustments and examine the results. Are decisions faster? Are responsibilities clearer? Is work completed reliably? Have important matters been overlooked?

Leadership must demonstrate the standard. Employees cannot protect working time if questioning an unnecessary invitation is treated as a lack of commitment.

The objective is a meeting culture that supports communication, accountability, and execution.

Make the time produce a result

A one-hour meeting involving ten employees consumes ten employee-hours before preparation and follow-up.

That investment should have a defined purpose and an identifiable result.

An invitation should explain why someone belongs in the meeting. The meeting should establish what they are responsible for afterward.