Take Two

I have blogged before about my distaste for meetings.  In my past experience (read:large corporate world), meetings were used to communicate information.  God invented e-mail so we didn’t have to have those meetings anymore.  For the most part, meetings have been something that took away from productive work time.

We had a partners’ meeting today at our firm.  Meetings like these I have use for.  First, our managing partner made blueberry pancakes.  The value of this can’t be understated.  Secondly, we had a really good discussion about where we were at in our various practice areas, what things we could standardize, and what other things we could use each other’s expertise for.  I consider myself blessed to work with smart, creative people who challenge my thinking and provide a work environment that I love.  Since I am the only guy amongst the partners (we’re all nurses), I add some much needed male perspective to our discussions.  As a whole, it’s a great group to be a part of.

So I will amend my thoughts on meetings being completely without value.  If they are used to brainstorm, discuss, challenge and otherwise “sharpen iron”, they can certainly add to the organization.  However, if you just want to pass along info, that’s still why God (or Al Gore) invented e-mail.