This is a bit of advice that I give to all of my clients (who are mostly the CEOs and CTOs of startups):
You might be thinking, “What is wrong with group meetings? I love group meetings. I get to talk to everyone at once, which is much more efficient than talking to each person individually. Group meetings save me a lot of time.”
If you feel that way, I should warn you, I’m about to attack your deeply held beliefs. Get ready.
I once had a client who insisted that the marketing team should meet with the tech team once a month, to collaborate on the creation of marketing copy that would be informed by those who understood the technology. This was good in theory, but having less people in the room would have been way more productive. As it was, during a typical meeting we had twelve people in the room, most of whom were bored. The conversation was almost always dominated by the three most opinionated marketing people. Imagine this going on for 20 straight minutes:
Amy: Consumers are saturated with advertisements. The only way to break through is to connect with them at an emotional level. That’s why we need to consider long-form advertising. We need to tell stories that really reach them.
Henry: I couldn’t disagree more! Nobody has time to read a story! If you write more than ten words then you’ve failed. We need a slogan that is memorable, something we can use in every ad, something that —
Amy: No! Studies show that people don’t remember facts, they remember emotions. We need to connect with those emotions, which is why we need to consider —
Henry: Great, so we come up with ten words that pack an emotional wallop, but we don’t write a damn novel! Nobody has time to read anymore, nobody —
Amy: Well I read a novel a week, sometimes two. Some people crave stories and look for narrative structure and we should give them ads that they actually enjoy and want to share with their —
Kate: No, no, you two are both wrong! People don’t want stories so much as they want authenticity. We really need to forge a connection with them that feels authentic; if we hit them with an idiotic slogan or indulge in some silly fiction, that’s just going to —
Henry: If we find the right ten words, it will resonate with them as authentic. That’s our job, to find the ten words that feel authentic! What do you think we are doing here? A quick slogan gives us quick –
Kate: Authenticity is not a pack of Ramen noodles! We can’t create it in five minutes, it’s something that takes time to build and —
Henry: Remember the Budweiser ad, from the mid 90s, with the bullfrogs …??? Busch pulled off a Super Bowl commercial where the only word spoken the entire time was “Bud-wei-ser.” The ENTIRE time! Because the frogs were reciting it! To this day, my older brothers still talk about —
Amy: Oh my god, please for one moment try to get your head out of the clouds and think about how people actually associate ideas and products in ways that might be outside of your narrow —
Does this conversation allow the tech team to have a better understanding of the way the marketing team thinks? Yes, maybe. And if time was infinite, this would be a fun educational exercise for the tech team. Alas, time is not infinite. Such meetings encouraged the tech team to offer their non-professional opinion on matters strictly relating to marketing. Why would the marketing team want that?
A bad manager allows these meetings to drag on. A good manager ends these meetings quickly and gets people back to their real jobs. A great manager never allows such meetings to occur in the first place.
You might be thinking, “What is wrong with group meetings? I love group meetings. I get to talk to everyone at once, which is much more efficient than talking to each person individually. Group meetings save me a lot of time.” If you feel that way, I should warn you, I’m about to attack your deeply held beliefs. Get ready. I once had a client who insisted that the marketing team should meet with the tech team once a month, to collaborate on the creation of marketing copy that would be informed by those who understood the technology. This was good in theory, but having less people in the room would have been way more productive. As it was, during a typical meeting we had twelve people in the room, most of whom were bored. The conversation was almost always dominated by the three most opinionated marketing people. Imagine this going on for 20 straight minutes:
Amy: Consumers are saturated with advertisements. The only way to break through is to connect with them at an emotional level. That’s why we need to consider long-form advertising. We need to tell stories that really reach them.
Henry: I couldn’t disagree more! Nobody has time to read a story! If you write more than ten words then you’ve failed. We need a slogan that is memorable, something we can use in every ad, something that —
Amy: No! Studies show that people don’t remember facts, they remember emotions. We need to connect with those emotions, which is why we need to consider —
Henry: Great, so we come up with ten words that pack an emotional wallop, but we don’t write a damn novel! Nobody has time to read anymore, nobody —
Amy: Well I read a novel a week, sometimes two. Some people crave stories and look for narrative structure and we should give them ads that they actually enjoy and want to share with their —
Kate: No, no, you two are both wrong! People don’t want stories so much as they want authenticity. We really need to forge a connection with them that feels authentic; if we hit them with an idiotic slogan or indulge in some silly fiction, that’s just going to —
Henry: If we find the right ten words, it will resonate with them as authentic. That’s our job, to find the ten words that feel authentic! What do you think we are doing here? A quick slogan gives us quick –
Kate: Authenticity is not a pack of Ramen noodles! We can’t create it in five minutes, it’s something that takes time to build and —
Henry: Remember the Budweiser ad, from the mid 90s, with the bullfrogs …??? Busch pulled off a Super Bowl commercial where the only word spoken the entire time was “Bud-wei-ser.” The ENTIRE time! Because the frogs were reciting it! To this day, my older brothers still talk about —
Amy: Oh my god, please for one moment try to get your head out of the clouds and think about how people actually associate ideas and products in ways that might be outside of your narrow —
Does this conversation allow the tech team to have a better understanding of the way the marketing team thinks? Yes, maybe. And if time was infinite, this would be a fun educational exercise for the tech team. Alas, time is not infinite. Such meetings encouraged the tech team to offer their non-professional opinion on matters strictly relating to marketing. Why would the marketing team want that? A bad manager allows these meetings to drag on. A good manager ends these meetings quickly and gets people back to their real jobs. A great manager never allows such meetings to occur in the first place.