開開會﹖也不錯
隨
便找個人﹐問問他喜歡開會嗎﹐他都會告訴你他討厭開會﹐而且還會列出一大堆理由。約 翰•麥凱(John McKay)是名機械工程師﹐他曾在一家消費品公司工作了15年。公司大小會議無數﹐以致於他自己最後都變成會議專家了。他把會議分為9類﹐還撰文 1,820字進行了總結。他說﹐會議五花八門﹐有些屬於重要會議﹐但這類只有“極少數”﹔有些則屬於“旅行愛好者”型﹐那些人不願意召開電話會議﹐只是因 為他們惦記著旅行計劃。
麥凱說﹐公司的會議變得很乏味。
之後﹐他跳槽到另外一家公司﹐那裡幾乎從不開會。他承認自己開始懷念以前那種會議不斷的時光﹐當你一個會都沒有的時候﹐就會意識到從前開會時可以進行很多人際交往。他說﹐現在他會熱切期盼為時3小時的會議。他甚至試圖讓自己參與到開會更多的項目中去。
麥凱的說法有助於回答這樣一個問題﹕如果人人都如此討厭開會﹐為什麼還要開那麼多的會﹖
早期的會議守則禁止遲到早退、打瞌睡、或是吐口水（當然也包括嘔吐）。
今天﹐至少這些禁令都不復存在了﹐我們能關注這樣一個事實﹕人類天生就是群居動物。對會議不屑一顧（這太容易了）的人私下裡有時也會想﹐會議也可以是有益的﹐能體現身份﹐或者至少為交流新的笑料提供了一個不錯的場所。如果會上還提供肉桂麵包的話﹐還能改變一天的節奏。
出人意料的是﹐今年晚些時候將要公佈的一份報告顯示﹐很多嘴巴上說不喜歡開會的人其實都是假裝的。
北卡羅來納大學工業組織心理學教授史蒂文•羅格伯格(Steven Rogelberg)和同事進行了一項研究﹐讓一組被調查者對最近開的會議給出評級﹐有69%的被調查者給的評級至少是“好”﹐只有16%的人給了“糟” 或更差的評級。雖然有50%的人對開會怨聲載道﹐但其中有超過60%的人承認他們要麼“並不是那麼在意開會”﹐要麼“享受開會”。
當被問到一個理想的工作日應該有什麼內容時﹐有2/3的被調查者表示﹐至少要包括一個甚至更多的會議。
人們如此的“表裡不一”──在公開場合表示嫌惡而私下裡卻很喜歡﹐可能是因為覺得承認喜歡開是種恥辱。因為這等於向人們宣告﹐你要麼是個喜歡炫耀的人﹐要麼就是個膽小鬼﹐而且毫無疑問是個不珍惜時間的人。羅格伯格說﹐如果你說不喜歡開會﹐你就能顯示自己有個性。
像 服裝公司創辦人諾姆•齊威爾(Norm Zwail)這樣公開承認喜歡開會是需要勇氣的﹐儘管這仍讓人感覺動機不純。他說﹐他喜歡大家目光相觸、放聲大笑時產生的能量﹐以及觀點（特別是自己的觀 點）被大家接受時感受到的“電流”﹔而且﹐他喜歡說話﹐喜歡受到大家的注目﹐喜歡別人聆聽自己的看法。
僅僅是談論會議﹐即使是抱怨開會﹐都顯示出你覺得開會是有意義的。科羅拉多大學傳媒教授凱倫•特雷西(Karen Tracy)說﹐這是顯示自己重要性的另外一種方式。
特雷西一直從事會前研究﹐她說這對整個組織以及個人都至關重要。畢竟﹐正題前的閒聊時間常常比會議日程本身更加有趣﹐而且態度友好、和你聊天的人也會讓你更加明白自己喜歡某人的原因。
保險經紀喬•亞當斯(Joe Adams)記不住會議的主題﹐但他卻記得和他聊天的人。他從前在人力資源部工作﹐每天的事情就是開會。他說﹐他很早以前就已經認識到開會是無法使自己成就輝煌的。但他也學會愛上開會這種“可以開小差”的時機來幹“私活”。
芝加哥大學商學院的行為科學助理教授尼古拉斯•埃普利(Nicholas Epley)說﹐人們有非常強的社交需求。在工位上坐著令人麻木、與世隔絕﹐只會讓人更加渴望社交。
研究分析師大衛•馬澤爾(David Mazel)認為﹐人們喜歡開會﹐因為這樣能保持忙碌狀態﹐而不需要完成具體的任務﹐去開會本身就是你的工作。
在他參加過的一個有關彈道導彈防御系統的會議上﹐主持會議的上校上來先宣佈了下次會議的時間和提供些什麼點心﹐而沒有提出任何具體的任務。
馬澤爾說﹐大家並不關心我們能為國家做點什麼實事。
湯姆•蘭蒂斯(Tom Landis)說﹐開會實際上比工作要好﹐可能是因為他本人就是為會議提供送餐服務的餐館老板。他指出﹐雖然人們討厭開會﹐但更討厭工作﹐所以人們選擇了開會。
某製造企業的首席執行長史蒂夫•克瑞朋(Steve Crippen)說﹐他能判斷客戶什麼時候要開會﹐因為他會收到十幾個人打來問詢電話﹐提的問題都一模一樣。他們都希望能在下次會議上有機會說﹕“我和他們談過了﹐這事我已經搞定了”。
Jared Sandberg
Another Meeting? Another Chance To Hear Myself Talk
Ask anyone what they like about meetings and they'll tell you instead why they hate them.
For 15 years, John McKay, a mechanical engineer, worked at a consumer-products company where they held so many meetings he ended up an expert, categorizing them under nine labels, summed up in a 1,820-word document. They ranged from critical meetings, which are 'the vast minority,' he says, to travel-inspired ones, for people who 'don't like video conferencing because it would spoil their travel plans.'
'It became drudgery,' says Mr. McKay.
But then he joined a new company where there were almost no meetings. 'I began to miss all those meetings,' he admits. 'When you come out of it cold turkey, you realize you had a lot of human contact.' Nowadays, he would look forward to a three-hour meeting, he says. He even tries to involve himself in projects that will bring 'more of that contact.'
Mr. McKay's confession helps answer the question of why, if everybody hates meetings so much, do we have so many of them?
Early manuals on meetings warned against late arrivals, early departures, falling asleep -- and spitting. (Hence, the notion of spewing.)
Today, with at least the latter offense vanquished we can focus on the fact that we are, by nature, needy huddlers and cuddlers. The same person who disparages meetings -- an exercise as easy as shooting fish in a barrel -- sometimes secretly thinks they can be productive, can be a totem of status or, at the very least, can be a great forum for their latest joke material. They can also change the day's tempo -- if only by introducing cinnamon buns.
Surprisingly, a study to be released later this year shows a great number of meeting moaners are total fakers.
Steven Rogelberg, a professor of industrial organizational psychology at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and a group of colleagues found that among people surveyed about their last meeting, 69% rated them at least 'good,' while only 16% rated them 'poor' or worse. And although 50% said they complained about meetings, more than 60% of these complainers admitted that they either 'don't mind them that much' or 'enjoy them.'
Asked what their ideal work day would look like, two-thirds of respondents said it would include at least one or more meetings.
The disparity between public distaste toward meetings and private affection is likely due to the stigma attached to admitting you like them. It's declaring yourself either a show-off or a sheep -- and definitely a time-waster. 'If you say that you dislike meetings, you're able to latch on to this rugged individualism,' Prof. Rogelberg says.
It takes a brave soul like Norm Zwail, founder of an apparel business, to profess his meeting affection, although it still gives the impression that someone spiked the Poland Spring. 'I feed off the energy produced when eyes meet and laughter is heard, and the electricity generated when an idea is universally accepted, especially when it is my idea,' he says. 'Plus, I love to talk, be seen and be heard.'
Just talking about a meeting -- even if it's a gripe -- signals you rated an invitation in the first place. It's 'another way to show how important you are,' says Karen Tracy, a professor of communication at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Prof. Tracy has studied pre-meetings, which she says are crucial to the organization and the individual. After all, the time before the official business begins often is more interesting than the agenda, and the friendly chatter reminds you why you like someone.
Joe Adams, an insurance agent, can't recall meeting topics. 'But I do remember the people I talked to,' he says. Formerly in an HR department where all he did was meet, 'I learned long ago that I am not going to meet myself to greatness.' But he has also learned to love the 'productive downtime' of meetings to make his own to-do lists.
'The drive for social connection is a very strong one,' says Nicholas Epley, an assistant professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. Sitting in a cubicle is 'stupefying' and isolating, only intensifying a social need.
David Mazel, a research analyst, thinks people like meetings because 'you can stay busy without accomplishing a thing.' He says 'having gone to the meeting is the work.'
At one meeting he attended on ballistic-missile defense, the colonel conducting the meeting began by announcing the date of the next gathering and its refreshments. No marching orders emerged.
'The idea that we might actually do something for the nation was not a concern,' Mr. Mazel says.
Meetings actually are better than work, adds Tom Landis, probably because he is president of a restaurant company that caters meetings. 'Meetings are held because, while people detest them, they hate actually working more,' he notes.
Steve Crippen, who heads a manufacturing company, can tell whenever there has been a meeting at one of his customers' companies because he'll receive as many as a dozen calls from its attendees asking for the same information. 'They're looking for an opportunity to go to the next meeting and say, 'Well, I talked to them, and I got this done.''
For 15 years, John McKay, a mechanical engineer, worked at a consumer-products company where they held so many meetings he ended up an expert, categorizing them under nine labels, summed up in a 1,820-word document. They ranged from critical meetings, which are 'the vast minority,' he says, to travel-inspired ones, for people who 'don't like video conferencing because it would spoil their travel plans.'
'It became drudgery,' says Mr. McKay.
But then he joined a new company where there were almost no meetings. 'I began to miss all those meetings,' he admits. 'When you come out of it cold turkey, you realize you had a lot of human contact.' Nowadays, he would look forward to a three-hour meeting, he says. He even tries to involve himself in projects that will bring 'more of that contact.'
Mr. McKay's confession helps answer the question of why, if everybody hates meetings so much, do we have so many of them?
Early manuals on meetings warned against late arrivals, early departures, falling asleep -- and spitting. (Hence, the notion of spewing.)
Today, with at least the latter offense vanquished we can focus on the fact that we are, by nature, needy huddlers and cuddlers. The same person who disparages meetings -- an exercise as easy as shooting fish in a barrel -- sometimes secretly thinks they can be productive, can be a totem of status or, at the very least, can be a great forum for their latest joke material. They can also change the day's tempo -- if only by introducing cinnamon buns.
Surprisingly, a study to be released later this year shows a great number of meeting moaners are total fakers.
Steven Rogelberg, a professor of industrial organizational psychology at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and a group of colleagues found that among people surveyed about their last meeting, 69% rated them at least 'good,' while only 16% rated them 'poor' or worse. And although 50% said they complained about meetings, more than 60% of these complainers admitted that they either 'don't mind them that much' or 'enjoy them.'
Asked what their ideal work day would look like, two-thirds of respondents said it would include at least one or more meetings.
The disparity between public distaste toward meetings and private affection is likely due to the stigma attached to admitting you like them. It's declaring yourself either a show-off or a sheep -- and definitely a time-waster. 'If you say that you dislike meetings, you're able to latch on to this rugged individualism,' Prof. Rogelberg says.
It takes a brave soul like Norm Zwail, founder of an apparel business, to profess his meeting affection, although it still gives the impression that someone spiked the Poland Spring. 'I feed off the energy produced when eyes meet and laughter is heard, and the electricity generated when an idea is universally accepted, especially when it is my idea,' he says. 'Plus, I love to talk, be seen and be heard.'
Just talking about a meeting -- even if it's a gripe -- signals you rated an invitation in the first place. It's 'another way to show how important you are,' says Karen Tracy, a professor of communication at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Prof. Tracy has studied pre-meetings, which she says are crucial to the organization and the individual. After all, the time before the official business begins often is more interesting than the agenda, and the friendly chatter reminds you why you like someone.
Joe Adams, an insurance agent, can't recall meeting topics. 'But I do remember the people I talked to,' he says. Formerly in an HR department where all he did was meet, 'I learned long ago that I am not going to meet myself to greatness.' But he has also learned to love the 'productive downtime' of meetings to make his own to-do lists.
'The drive for social connection is a very strong one,' says Nicholas Epley, an assistant professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. Sitting in a cubicle is 'stupefying' and isolating, only intensifying a social need.
David Mazel, a research analyst, thinks people like meetings because 'you can stay busy without accomplishing a thing.' He says 'having gone to the meeting is the work.'
At one meeting he attended on ballistic-missile defense, the colonel conducting the meeting began by announcing the date of the next gathering and its refreshments. No marching orders emerged.
'The idea that we might actually do something for the nation was not a concern,' Mr. Mazel says.
Meetings actually are better than work, adds Tom Landis, probably because he is president of a restaurant company that caters meetings. 'Meetings are held because, while people detest them, they hate actually working more,' he notes.
Steve Crippen, who heads a manufacturing company, can tell whenever there has been a meeting at one of his customers' companies because he'll receive as many as a dozen calls from its attendees asking for the same information. 'They're looking for an opportunity to go to the next meeting and say, 'Well, I talked to them, and I got this done.''
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