Topless meetings for team focus?
Submitted by Merlin on March 25, 2008 - 8:04am.
When it’s hard to stay focused, try going ‘topless’ to meetings - San Jose Mercury News
Our good pals over at Adaptive Path have been experimenting with banning laptops and other communication devices in meetings (something I’ve supported in the past). From today’s Mercury News:
Frustrated by distracted workers so plugged in that they tune out in the middle of business meetings, a growing number of companies are going “topless,” as in no laptops allowed. Also banned from some conference rooms: BlackBerrys, iPhones and other personal devices on which so many have come to depend…
But as laptops have gotten lighter and smart-phones even smarter, people have discovered a handy diversion, making more eye contact these days with their screens than one another. The practice became so pervasive that Todd Wilkens turned to his company blog to wage his “personal war against CrackBerry…”
His San Francisco design firm, Adaptive Path, now strongly encourages everyone to leave their laptops at their desks. His colleague, Dan Saffer, coined the term “topless” as in “laptop-less.” Also booted are mobile and smart-phones, which must be stowed on a counter or in a box during meetings. It took some convincing, but soon people began connecting with one another rather than with their computers, Wilkens said.
“All of our meetings got a lot more productive,” he said.
[via Dan Saffer]
The Question to You
Has your team tried some version of topless meetings? How did it work for you? Anybody tried it and given up? How did the meetings change without the toys being on?
- Merlin's blog
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with definition, it can work
First, most people in most meetings are completely clueless when it comes to running meetings, and participating in meetings. The average person should not be allowed to have their laptop because they’re just going to work on their email the whole time.
That said, sure, go with the ground rules of no laptops, no blackberries, etc. Have one person in charge of capturing notes and action points (on a laptop) who will send it to the whole group following the meeting.
Other attendees can have their laptops “available” in the case that they need to look up information or reference items… but other than that, go low tech and just participate in the discussion. You’ve got to be adamant about the rules though… if someone is not obeying, call them out.