Weekly team meetings

Day : Thursday
Time : 3 PM - 4 PM
Outlook reminder : Team meeting - 5 minutes remaining. Location : Nilgiris(Conf hall)

......... Loading team members ...............

"HA HA HA!! Look at you. You have resolved just 1 bug this week."
"Arey! That was a Microsoft issue. Tough one!"
HA HA AH!!!

Manager - Cough, cough. Clears throat (Ggaining attention...)

"So, to start off, I have a few points to make. Richard is really serious about meeting deadlines for the #### project. He says that all the Sev 1 and Sev 2 bugs have to be resolved before November 15th and the product launch is slated for 22-Nov 2006 -- The 'D' Day. We will have to prepare a user document too. So, let's do it and slap the document on their face! "

"Blah... Blah... Blah..."

End of meeting.

"Team meetings are useless".
"It's only for the manager to keep upto date with the happenings. All bullshit!"
"We are wasting our time here. Useless meetings".
"Simply we can sit and work. What's the whole point? I'm sleepy. Come, let's go have coffee"

The above are some of the comments I get to listen soon after a team meeting.

I think team meetings are cool. We get to meet and talk about what's happening with the team once in a week, that too, for one hour (Agreed. Sometimes two). The best feature of a team meeting is exchange of ideas. It generally so happens, one person is working on resolving a bug for over 2 days and he/she's hit a dead end. Such things are discussed in meetings so that some other ignited mind comes up with a solution. This is one thing I like about team meetings.

The second of course, is the log maintained by the manager about the team's current status and it's progress. This is really important for a team to head in the right direction.

Thirdly, issues that need escalation can be raised. For eg : "My system needs a new software to be installed. The IT admins are not co-operative enough. I raised a ticket but still nothing happened." Such issues are directly taken up by the manager and he/she can make furthur escalations".

Team meetings also mean fun, each one trying to pull the other's leg. Not even the manager is spared. Last week, the issue about 'bad food' being served was taken up. The meeting went thus:

Member 1 : "The food that they provide is shitty. Not even a dog can eat that food"

Manager : "Well, I do"

Member 2 : "For the amount we pay, this should not be the quality of food. Tell me Mr. Manager, do you like the food?"


Manager(Northie) : "Not that I like it. I thought this was how South Indian food was prepared. He he..."

Member 1 : "Oh! We thought North Indian food was being served. He he..."


Manager : "Frankly speaking, I don't like the food. I hated that 'gun powder' that they had sprinkled on pulao today. Anyhow, I shall take up this matter with @@@"

Manager : "Anythig else?"

Silence...

Manager : "So, that's it guys. Thanks for joining the party!"

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Team meetings are not a waste of time. Take a closer look. There's so much to learn, starting from the way the manager conducts the meeting . It's the most productive hour of the week.