Meeting for?
Let us
have a meeting
Published
at Raiot on 28th November 2016
Thanks
are due to Raiot, Angela and Tarun.
At
a recent meeting it was a pleasant surprise to hear an agitated voice state
that we need to move beyond talking of what was discussed during the previous
meeting and what we could possibly discuss during the next meeting. We need to talk
of work progress (and lack of it) between these meetings and
ask ourselves why meetings have become an end in themselves. Angst in the tone
ensured silence for the 5 odd minutes that followed.
On
way back home that evening I recalled the different categories of people I have
encountered during meetings, people who left me – well, wondering.
People
who fly half way across the country or the globe for a meeting and then
are busy checking emails and face-book. They have little idea of what has been
discussed and suddenly they wake up to the discussions around them. This
happened recently at a gathering (at Lamakaan)
that was discussing Kabir (the poet) and
his philosophy; based on a recently published book. After approximately an hour,
of the 2 hour session, a participant looked up from his phone and asked ‘Is this the Kabir ke dohe wala Kabir?’
People
who are present at most meetings on a topic (or a select range of topics). A conversation I overheard, at the
onset of a meeting, just as we were about to enter the meeting hall, brought
out the issue succinctly. ‘Oh no, not
again the same bunch of us, we will talk the same things’ said one. The
other chipped in quickly saying – ‘so
what, we know each other and the topic; the meeting will be useful!’ Useful
for who - would be good question here!
People
who are invited to meetings on wide range of subjects. These people, blessed
with some mysterious set of skills, are able to talk with equal élan and pose
on most, if not all, topics.
People
who do not want to leave the mike and conveniently forget the signs,
which have been agreed upon, for them to close their ‘short-talk’. Robert
Chambers considers ‘the Indian male above 50 the most dangerous species’ in this context.
At so many of these gatherings the initial two odd talks (presentations) take up significantly more time and successfully
derail the rest of the day. This also results in some participants who may have
come from far (not without investing
resources) not getting the allotted time to talk and in their agitated
state of mind not being in a position to listen either!
Power-points
- that integral component of most meetings. After three most of them appear
similar and yet – as if things were not bad enough - we have instances of
people read out the text or come up with 100 odd slides put together. I have
often wondered if they want to convey thoughts and ideas or have a sadist
pleasure at making others sit through their presentations.
People
who attend without preparation and blur out generic lines. ‘We need to involve the youth as volunteers’
kind of lines. Who these - eager to volunteer - youth are is a mystery to all
around including the youth from their office. Interestingly such generic talk appears
to have made way into organizational meetings as well.
People
who base their understanding on experiences during meetings;
understanding of people and issues. How this works is a mystery, which competes
with the one mentioned earlier, especially when there many who are left
confused and have questions even after multiple visits to actual sites. Then,
of course, there are some who give more talks (during these meetings) on a place than the days they have put in
learning of the place!
People
who refuse to pay for their food and share rooms despite taking of
equity during sessions. They are the ‘Yudhistir’
species; walking a couple of inches above the ground. Contradictions, like
these, abound as friends have experienced. One shared of attending a meeting on
poverty at a 5 star hotel (in Goa)
while the other stated ‘I don’t
understand why those working on Climate Change travel to so many international
meetings!’ Nassim Nicholas Taleb
puts this succinctly ‘I went to a
happiness conference, researchers looked very unhappy’.
Still
on the way, and by now tired of these thoughts, two realizations struck me. One
that most people (and like in other scenarios
there are exceptions) who are very good at talking in meetings perform
better in meetings, than elsewhere. They have invested time in these gatherings
and have honed their skills to near perfection. I today, feel silly that I once
used to be in awe of them. And the other that I have been a guilty of some of
these traits and need to direly cut down on attending meetings.
On
the web here
Good.Let us use this for Introspection and see if we can use Train and /or road travel and as far as possible Not choose the Air travel,even when someone else is sponsering this.Pl do give this a try.
ReplyDelete. thanks much for raising this . . crucial indeed . . wonder why this is seldom discussed . . have of recent taken baby steps in this direction . .
DeleteIt is reassuring to see that other groups feel the same way. I thought handloom has so few supporters/lobbyists( for want of a better word, I do not believe any of us are activists in handloom) that the same set of people are present at every meeting. So much so that a couple of us started calling ourselves the 'bhajan troupe' moving from one venue to the other. Each one of us knows what the other will say, to the last 'T'. Therefore, very few new ideas come out from these meetings.
ReplyDelete. . thanks especially for drawing the parallel . . what one has also come across is the meetings becoming an end in themselves and people looking forward to them . .
DeleteVery Valuable and useful information. Thank you for sharing.
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