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Who loves meetings? Not me.

by Paul Cook

Yes, this is a market validation question!

I am currently considering my next side-project. I have an itch to scratch and I'm wondering if anybody else suffers the same problem or if it's just a 'perceived' problem I have.

The problem:

I really hate meetings. I hate scheduling them. I hate the way they are conducted. I hate the way outcomes are forgotten or mishandled by team members.

When I am responsible for hosting meetings (remote or on-site) there always seems to be the same recurring problems:

  • The email 'avalanche' to arrange a convenient time and location and the effort involved when rescheduling.
  • The way documents are shared on different services.
  • Bad experiences with online video/audio tools, including people with potatoes for microphones, constant technical issues ("can you hear me?") and generally poor UX.
  • Forgetting what was agreed at the meeting, forgetting tasks, forgetting what happened in previous meetings.

Is it just me or do you feel the same?

I know there are a wealth of tools to use in meetings, but they are all individual tools (Trello for planning, Zoom for conferencing, calendars, task lists, etc.) and everyone has different favourite tools anyway so effective collaboration is impossible.

The solution:

A vertical app (probably a web app at first) designed specifically for the scheduling and management of meetings.

Some feature ideas: amazing scheduling, agenda creation and collaboration, voting, document signing, task assignment, integrated video conferencing. All meeting outcomes & tasks managed and stored in one place.

What do you think?

  1. What do you hate about meetings?

  2. If there was a new tool built especially for coordinating meetings what would you like to be able to do with it?

Thanks for any insights you can give into your meeting life!

Paul.

Paul Cook's avatarPaul Cook
on May 4, 2020
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  1. 5

    I think you want todo way too much at once.

    I once had a similar idea but the conclusion was, this is not a technical problem but a management problem. Everything you describe can be done with one of many tools that work great.

    klaaz0r's avatar klaaz0r
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    6 years ago
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    1. 1

      Thank you! Although avoiding multiple tools - and multiple people using multiple tools - is something I wish to avoid.

      Paul Cook's avatar Paul Cook
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      6 years ago
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      1. 1

        Yeah I get you, but the problem is every company has specific tools and add some internal tools to the list as well.

        klaaz0r's avatar klaaz0r
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        6 years ago
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  2. 2

    Hi Paul 👋
    Some thoughts:

    • I think Microsoft Teams wants to tackle this issue by being an all-in-one meeting tool.
    • Everybody wants to meet less, but the amount of meetings seems to keep growing.
    • I also believe this is not a technical problem but a culture problem.
    • I'm wondering, do you hate all meetings or are there also ones you find valuable? And perhaps you could have a look at those and define what makes a good/useful meeting?

    Hope this helps!

    Row's avatar Row
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    6 years ago
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    1. 1

      Thanks Rowan, this helps a great deal. Clearly I was playing 'devils advocate' by saying I hate all meetings and some are, of course, more beneficial than others. I think identifying on the good elements and maximizing those is just as important as minimizing the bad ones.

      Paul Cook's avatar Paul Cook
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      6 years ago
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