We need more meetings (just not the ones you think) - Blair McPherson

We need more meetings, which is not as bad as it sounds.
Everyone assumes I mean more time in rooms with long agendas.
Not another calendar invite that quietly wastes an hour.
Especially when the real decisions are made elsewhere.
Even I wouldn’t defend those.
Despite appearances, that’s not what I’m arguing for.

My case is for something far less formal and far more useful.
Occasionally this looks like a meeting, but it doesn’t feel like one.
Rather, it’s a conversation with someone who sees work in a similar way.
Exactly the kind of exchange organisations rarely plan but always need.

Maybe it’s someone from HR or Finance you don’t usually work with.
Equally, it might be a colleague from a partner organisation.
Either way, it starts with curiosity rather than an agenda.
These are meetings of minds, and we’ve quietly stopped valuing them.
Informal, unscripted, often squeezed in between “real work.”
No minutes, no actions log, no need to prove they happened.
Given half a chance, they turn into something far more productive.
Shared values, a similar outlook, and a bit of trust go a long way.

Often it’s over coffee, a quick chat, or a knock on an open door.
Nothing formal, nothing scheduled weeks in advance.
Little conversations that make difficult things easier to get done.
You build understanding that no process can replicate.

This has served me well throughout my career.
Helpful connections make the system easier to navigate.
Enough trust to pick up the phone and unblock an issue.

Results come quicker, not because of the system, but despite it.
Ironically, organisations talk endlessly about collaboration.
Given the chance, most people would rather just get on with it.
Have more of these conversations and you need fewer formal meetings.
That’s the point we tend to miss.

Only the right ones make a difference.
Not the ones that fill diaries and prove we were there.
End result: more gets done, with less theatre.
Strangely enough, in systems that measure activity more easily than outcomes, that may be the most subversive idea of all.

blairmcpherson.co.uk