Meetings & FOMO

What They Say About A Company’s Culture

I am not the biggest fan of meetings. I grumble when my calendar looks like I won’t have time to sit down with my laptop to work. I feel my heart sink when I walk out of a room and realize that a discussion went overtime. I mourn my killed productivity.

I think: why call a meeting when we can settle this through an e-mail? Can we review this document separately in our own time? Where will I find the time to deliver results if I’m spending half of my week in internal meetings?

But I’m no hypocrite. I know that there are days when I’ve called one too many. I (ninja) approach officemates to discussions that take more than ten minutes. I am fully aware that I’ve been eating up other people’s times too.

I’ve voiced out this concern to my father once when he was driving me to the office for just one hour-long meeting that day (for context: this was a topic because at STORM we have the option to work from home when there’s no reason to be in the office). He explained to me that meetings get more inevitable as one progresses through a career. Sometimes that’s all you’re left to do.

That conversation happened early this year and what he said kind of scared me. I can’t imagine spending 40 hours a week in meetings! Me, the introvert! Me, Deirdre “I do my best thinking in the flow state” Conde! It was a crazy thought.

This time last week I was worrying about missing my first EXECOM meeting. I was beating myself up about it because I really wanted to be back in the Philippines just to attend. I had FOMO or a “Fear of Missing Out”. I had FOMO on a meeting, of all things!

Now that sounded like an even crazier thought.

I don’t even feel FOMO as much with my friends… and I love my friends. Not to say that I don’t love my job, but one would think I’d be more concerned about missing out on things with friends or even family.

So I asked myself: why? Why do I feel upset when I don’t get to go to meetings? On one hand, I can attribute it to me being me: I personally just don’t like missing out on anything important.

On the other hand, I think “Meeting FOMO” also speaks volumes on the type of culture we operate in:

1. Meetings serve as the glue that keeps people together. Our firm is getting bigger and bigger. In a year, I’ve seen the number of people double right in front of my open office desk. We’ve actually added more rooms, so I don’t get to spend as much time with colleagues who aren’t stationed in the same room as me. Sometimes meetings are the only way I can see them or talk to them. Our partnership teams are always out and some functions get their own private room for security purposes. Aside from the Monday Town Hall (which doesn’t even assure everyone’s attendance), I only get to see them at meetings.
2. I’d like to think that those who power through meeting after meeting after meeting have a strong sense of ownership. I exhibit this characteristic whenever I brave two-hour traffic just to spend one hour in the office for a singular meeting… even when I know it can be rescheduled to a more convenient time for me. Meetings encourage ownership. Because of the way our brains are wired, we think: I made an effort to attend this meeting; I’ve invested time and effort already; and now I have a stake in its outcome.
3. Some concerns can be resolved through e-mail. That’s true, yet some discussions need a personal touch. There are topics that are better discussed in an open communication environment. And I’m sure no one will fight me on this: there’s still a lot that gets lost in translation through e-mail, text, Viber, or even calls. People at the office still prefer to make the effort to schedule and reserve a room for a meeting instead of typing up a one-way message, especially when the subject requires a back and forth of points anyway. Meetings mean that colleagues prioritize open communication over their own comfort (i.e. staying at home).
4. Everyone’s opinion matters. The fact that meetings are a problem for a lot of people in the company means that it’s not just a management-level problem. You don’t have to be part of the executive or management committee to be complaining about ‘em. Meetings make everyone a decider. When you’re invited to one, you’re not there to just spectate. You’re there for your voice to be heard.

Now I don’t want to glorify meetings. That’s far from the point of this post. I started by stating that I’m not the biggest fan of meetings, and that hasn’t changed. All I’m saying is maybe the next time we’re dragging our feet to a meeting, let’s reflect on why we’re still going. It’s one thing to complain about ‘em, but it’s another when we still feel compelled to go: it might be for a good reason, like the cultural bright sides outlined above.