Weekly Meetings – your take

I’ve always hated having meetings for the sake of having meetings.  When unstructured, they can be deadly in relation to productivity.  In their worst case, I think they can reflect the post image.

BUT, they have great power.  I’m throwing around the idea of a weekly, no more than 30 minute meeting, for our department of six people.  Our department has the structure of a Director, myself (Network / Server), two Technology Integration Specialists (certified teachers), a Support Technician and Webmaster / SIS individual.  All of us rotate throughout the buildings during the week, so it makes collaborative time difficult.  Along with this rotating schedule it is difficult to know what other individuals are doing; mainly, relating to if others are needed for working together.  Typically, everyone has an idea of how changes outside their realm have potential impact in their macro-world.  The aim of the meeting is to run through what people are working on, talk about any outstanding issues, share what has been learned, and brainstorm any new ideas or projects to look into.

With the ubiquity of connectivity and tools to do these types of sessions remotely, the scheduling becomes even easier.  I can throw on a webcam, open a Google Doc, and join the meeting from anywhere.

What I would like to hear is if you do meetings in a similar fashion and what works well with these meetings and what doesn’t.  If there is a specific standing agenda that you are using, what is it?  Do you see value in these types of meetings, and how do you feel they could be improved upon?