Practice Management Member Conversations

This thread from the Technology in Practice KC is most likely meaningful to our group:
Could fewer meetings actually improve project outcomes?

Cheers!

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Rebecca W.E. Edmunds AIA MFA
2025 Chair, AIA PMKC
President, r4llc
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What a great question. From my perspective the answer is "YES" with capital letters. I experienced over the last 40+ years in large firms that there have been numerous situations of excessive, frivolous meetings that take up far too much time away from creativity, design and production.  Some project leaders/managers call too many meetings for simply an issue that arises that does not necessitate a large, more than a 1-on-1 meeting. A quick visit by a manager to a team members' desks or by a ZOOM call can reduce the number of large team meetings.

And then....there are some managers that just like to show they are in charge and call meetings and often with topics that could be addressed 1-on-1. Just saying.

This thread from the Technology in Practice KC is most likely meaningful to our group:
Could fewer meetings actually improve project outcomes?

Cheers!

------------------------------
Rebecca W.E. Edmunds AIA MFA
2025 Chair, AIA PMKC
President, r4llc
------------------------------

Can't agree more. Long hours of frequent meetings are not only unproductive but also fail to resolve any issues. Generally, after 10 minutes, meetings stray from the main topic, lose focus, and the tendency is to discuss many off-topic issues and matters when many colleagues are present. After a while, no one remembers what the real issue was. Ultimately, no issues are resolved, and the meeting turns into men's gossiping. In my opinion, a meeting should not exceed 40 minutes, plus 10 minutes for wrap-up, so 50 minutes in total at most. The complementary 10 minutes to an hour is what I call a "cooling period", before concentrating on other works.

What a great question. From my perspective the answer is "YES" with capital letters. I experienced over the last 40+ years in large firms that there have been numerous situations of excessive, frivolous meetings that take up far too much time away from creativity, design and production.  Some project leaders/managers call too many meetings for simply an issue that arises that does not necessitate a large, more than a 1-on-1 meeting. A quick visit by a manager to a team members' desks or by a ZOOM call can reduce the number of large team meetings.

And then....there are some managers that just like to show they are in charge and call meetings and often with topics that could be addressed 1-on-1. Just saying.

This thread from the Technology in Practice KC is most likely meaningful to our group:
Could fewer meetings actually improve project outcomes?

Cheers!

------------------------------
Rebecca W.E. Edmunds AIA MFA
2025 Chair, AIA PMKC
President, r4llc
------------------------------

What a great question. From my perspective the answer is "YES" with capital letters. I experienced over the last 40+ years in large firms that there have been numerous situations of excessive, frivolous meetings that take up far too much time away from creativity, design and production.  Some project leaders/managers call too many meetings for simply an issue that arises that does not necessitate a large, more than a 1-on-1 meeting. A quick visit by a manager to a team members' desks or by a ZOOM call can reduce the number of large team meetings.

And then....there are some managers that just like to show they are in charge and call meetings and often with topics that could be addressed 1-on-1. Just saying.

This thread from the Technology in Practice KC is most likely meaningful to our group:
Could fewer meetings actually improve project outcomes?

Cheers!

------------------------------
Rebecca W.E. Edmunds AIA MFA
2025 Chair, AIA PMKC
President, r4llc
------------------------------

What a great question. From my perspective the answer is "YES" with capital letters. I experienced over the last 40+ years in large firms that there have been numerous situations of excessive, frivolous meetings that take up far too much time away from creativity, design and production.  Some project leaders/managers call too many meetings for simply an issue that arises that does not necessitate a large, more than a 1-on-1 meeting. A quick visit by a manager to a team members' desks or by a ZOOM call can reduce the number of large team meetings.

And then....there are some managers that just like to show they are in charge and call meetings and often with topics that could be addressed 1-on-1. Just saying.

This thread from the Technology in Practice KC is most likely meaningful to our group:
Could fewer meetings actually improve project outcomes?

Cheers!

------------------------------
Rebecca W.E. Edmunds AIA MFA
2025 Chair, AIA PMKC
President, r4llc
------------------------------

Great perspectives! I have found that you're right on both sides of the coin, that meetings can be both unproductive and productive. I notice that while some meetings may not entirely be useful for progress of business, projects, or marketing, they do serve as a vessel to inform the participants about the current state of something. There are times where I leave a meeting knowing we accomplished nothing but I have a better grasp on the leadership's mindset or challenges facing marketing. 

To make meetings more useful, it would be awesome to either create or find a course that teaches both meeting structure and etiquette. I notice that people structure their meetings to fill an hour because that is how it shows in the meeting invite rather than just taking the time necessary to say what needs to be said. 

Thank you! 

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Michael Perez AIA
PMKC Leadership Group

Original Message:
Sent: 11-22-2025 10:51 AM
From: Michael Katzin, AIA
Subject: Meetings!

What a great question. From my perspective the answer is "YES" with capital letters. I experienced over the last 40+ years in large firms that there have been numerous situations of excessive, frivolous meetings that take up far too much time away from creativity, design and production.  Some project leaders/managers call too many meetings for simply an issue that arises that does not necessitate a large, more than a 1-on-1 meeting. A quick visit by a manager to a team members' desks or by a ZOOM call can reduce the number of large team meetings.

And then....there are some managers that just like to show they are in charge and call meetings and often with topics that could be addressed 1-on-1. Just saying.

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Michael Katzin, AIA
Johns Creek, GA
Member - Johns Creek Planning Commission

Original Message:
Sent: 11-21-2025 08:29 AM
From: Rebecca Edmunds, AIA
Subject: Meetings!

This thread from the Technology in Practice KC is most likely meaningful to our group:
Could fewer meetings actually improve project outcomes?

Cheers!

------------------------------
Rebecca W.E. Edmunds AIA MFA
2025 Chair, AIA PMKC
President, r4llc
------------------------------