If you’re like me, you hate meetings! Even the word can make my skin crawl.

If I’m honest with myself though, I know there are good reasons to have a meeting.

Today, I expand on the idea that in a Remote First organization, meetings can be reduced but not eliminated.

Can meetings be removed completely?

Ok, so meetings are a drag. But they’re not completely unavoidable.

There are two types of meetings I don’t think can ever be removed.

The first type of meeting is to decide on a course of action. Whether at the company level, or a business unit or team, some things have to be actively discussed and a consensus reached.

The second type of meeting is team or company check-ins. While these should be infrequent, such as quarterly, everyone should have an opportunity to collectively celebrate achieving goals and milestones.

To do both of these over email loses efficiency, context and even excitement. Written communication just cannot completely convey intent.

As a side note, not achieving goals is something that should be caught early and worked through, not necessarily through more meetings.

Are you with me so far?

What are bad meetings?

We’ve all been in meetings that are a waste of time.

I’ve often sat in on meetings that felt like we were there just to talk.

Half the attendees didn’t participate. Remote team mates were ignored.

The worst part is that no decision was reached, which led to more meetings being scheduled!

“Well, we had a meeting, so we’re making progress. But we still haven’t decided what to do. Let’s schedule another one in a week!”

Frankly, these types of meetings seem like a veiled attempt to procrastinate making a decision.

And they should be eliminated!

What are good meetings?

But I’ve also sat in on good meetings.

These meetings usually have a specific point and expected outcome.

An agenda can help define this, so participants can come prepared.

Everyone participates, whether actively or simply remaining attentive to the content.

Remote teammates are actively included.

Decisions are made!

There is excitement and eagerness in the air.

Again, this can’t be detected in emails or chat.

What about tactical discussions?

I don’t believe that status check-ins and one-on-one discussions are considered meetings.

These are tactical discussions that need to happen, but can happen according to personal preference.

It is up to the leader of the team to engage appropriately with their people.

What is important is that your people feel they are being heard, but are not constantly being interrupted each day.

Because then nothing will get done.

Conclusion

Remote First organizations will want to be very intentional about the meetings they call.

Meetings should only include those that are necessary to make decisions, or who were involved in achieving team and company milestones.

Remote team mates should be treated as first-class participants in the meetings, not ignored.

And finally, leaders need to establish a frequency of tactical check-ins that does not keep work from happening.

Let me know in the comments your thoughts about the need for infrequent meetings!