Depends. For leaders, could be cost and impact www.worklife.news/culture/the-...
For those who seem to enjoy meetings for the sake of it, perhaps explore why and what alternatives there are.

Yeah the staff cost alone for multiple people from the same org to be in the same meeting is huge if you calculate it over a year!

🤣🤣🤣🤣 brilliant [saves cartoon]

I don't think these people knew why they were there. To look busy?

For each meeting (online or in person), I consider these questions beforehand:

1) what is the purpose?
2) what needs to get done during the meeting?
3) so who is *critical* to be there?
4) can any of this be done without a meeting?

As a digital native who grew up on the internet, I do find it weird when people say they need in-person meetings to get things done.
When I worked in government, I was regularly confused why we had so many big meetings where 5+ people from the same team joined. Why? FOMO? Profile raising?

I think so much can be learnt from all-remote companies like GitLab or Automattic.

If you haven’t already check out GitLabs documentation on how they communicate as an all-remote business.

handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/com...

Also incredibly relevant for a new start-up too!

Oooh I LOVE these policies and practices on how to communicate and get stuff done. If *ONLY* other orgs would follow these!

I say this as someone who used to work in government negotiating UN texts and trade deal agreements with other countries. Never once travelled to our UK office for this, let alone another country. But who knows, maybe if we *had* negotiated in-person, the UK might have got better trade deals?!

Wow that's a big carbon saving from doing stuff online! Aware there are trade-offs for virtual vs. in-person. To me, form follows function. What is it we're trying to achieve? E.g. if it's for governments to agree on a UN text, can that be done on an online shared doc?

Interesting - thanks for sharing! Just out of interest, would you say you're more of an extrovert (get energy from people) or introvert (people sap your energy)?

Thanks for sharing, that's really interesting. Just out of curiosity, would you say you are more of an extrovert (get energy from people) or introvert (drained by being around people)? As I wonder if that too could influence people's perceptions of what they get from conferences and meetings.

NB I'm not trying to be spicy here - I really want to understand some tangible impacts that these sorts of meetings have on the world.

#Conferences #SocietalImpact #Productivity #MeasurableResults #AcademicResearch #FutureOfWork

For instance, if you've recently been to #ClimateWeekNYC, the #EATLancet symposium, a #UN event or another big conference, can you share how your attendance at that meeting has helped to create a real-world change to people and/or the planet?

👉 And for people who have attended a big meeting recently - what are your insights? Can you share an example from your own experience where a specific conference or meeting demonstrably led to a positive, tangible change in the world?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from academics who have studied the societal impact of large-scale professional gatherings. What data exists to prove that these forums translate into policy changes, scientific breakthroughs, or widespread behavioral shifts?

#AcademicSky 📖

And what about the carbon emissions if people are travelling from across the globe?

Or the justice implications of those who can't afford to travel?

How do we step out of the echo chambers of existing ideas?

But how often can we trace a direct line from Meeting X ➡️ Decision Y ➡️ Tangible Societal Change Z? 🤔

While the value of networking, profile-raising, and career development are undeniable, are these high-energy, often high-cost events yielding actual progress on global challenges?

What quantitative impact are these gatherings truly having on furthering society?

It feels like we're busier than ever, dedicating countless hours to internal meetings, external workshops, roundtables, and international panels.