The Modern Meeting

The new book “ Read this Before Our Next Meeting- The Modern Meeting Standard” by Al Pittampalli, founder of The Modern Meeting Company, a group that helps organizations transform meetings, make decisions, and coordinate complex teams, identifies the need and offers a reinvention of the traditional meeting standards to fit today’s work environment.

Pittampalli’s driving message is the idea that more is not always better.  There is no denying that meetings play a crucial role in strategic planning, culture change etc. however, the pre-work that can and should be done autonomously is often neglected leading to long, arduos and all too often completely unproductive meetings.

“At the heart of the Modern Meeting Standard is the idea that individuals need to step up, take responsibility, and make tough decisions. And it’s not always the person who technically has “the authority” to do so.” (Al Pittampalli)

Not every stage of decision making need be a group effort – rather it is far more productive for an individual (and not necessarily the organizations leader) to make the decision, share the decision through one of the plethora of autonomous avenues available to us today and then call a meeting to address questions and/or suggestions.

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, we should remember that if you need ten meetings and approvals to make the decision, but your competitor only needs one, who do you think will be first to market, more innovative, will serve their customers better?

Although the structure of the Modern Meeting Standard facilitates productive and engaging meetings, it still requires individuals to take initiative and intelligently & bravely take ownership over decisions to drive results.