The census defines a bunch of us as
knowledge workers. What exactly is knowledge work?
Is there a difference between good
knowledge work and bad knowledge work?
There better be!
Last week I took the President of a
Scientific Society to meet the Executive Director of a Scientific
Foundation. We had a President, an Executive Director, an Education
Director, two Student Shadows, and a guy doing knowledge work.
A key but under-rated prerequisite of
knowledge work is go someplace else and have meetings with new
people. Where do you think knowledge comes from?
As 200 people are erroneously credited
with saying by
the internet, The people who got us in this situation aren’t
going to get us out of it!
First thing I noticed was that the two
students were wearing big name
tags. In solidarity, and because I think nametags improve
the quality of meetings, I put mine on.
Later, when I congratulated the
students on their tags, everybody else in the room admitted they had
been alerted that I like to see nametags. Something to be said for
consistency, I guess.
The Executive Director launched a
presentation, and the President cut him short with a couple of major
ideas for fundraising, better lines of business, and important
immediate opportunities, referencing links to the other people at the
table’s backgrounds (previously researched from the website).
That led to how the two groups could
work together and what other groups they influenced that could join
the effort.
Everybody was taking notes in their
notebooks,
to try to keep the goodness from getting away. I was doing that and
also taking notes for this blog. I expect to get new
solutions in other people’s meetings.
After an hour, everyone was exhausted,
so we watched the slides and videos to rest up, and figure out what
other information was needed.
After the video, thank you so much and
exeunt.
I was last to leave, developing a whole
other assignment in 20 minutes.
Went back to the office and in 23 hours
sent a three page digest of what occurred, adding what should have
been included, since I knew now what I wisht I’d
known then, resulting in a next meeting.
So to review, a knowledge work meeting
should be somewhere else, with smart people (Joy’s
Law), high energy/short time, and about important
work. Preparation is too easy to neglect.
Whoever wants to learn should write the
notes, which are to move you forward.
How many of your meetings are that
good?
When your meetings miss the mark, is it
because nobody took the effort to make them good?
I have nothing against structured
meetings, heck I’ve given over a dozen copies of Robert Rules of
Order to various secretaries for meetings where I was presiding.
(You’d be amazed at what should NOT be in minutes!)
And I have come to a conclusion that a
lot of ineffective meetings are because no one has figured out howto make meetings
worthwhile.
Perhaps some people need meetings to
fill out their day. I’ve seen that. So THEY are having a good
meeting.
I’ve seen people who need to attend
meetings derail productive meetings so they can get their
satisfaction. “Heh heh heh, donut, little girl?”
What if meetings aren’t work?
What if meetings are the initiator of work? I’ve written
elsewhere, Work
is making and keeping promises.
Initiator has to do with work you take
on yourself, not what is flung at you by somebody struggling to make
a contribooshun without personal effort.
How has database and collaboration
technology decreased the value of repeating gatherings of the usual
suspects?
Who do you know who hasn’t figured
that out? At an attendee cost per hour of how many hundred
dollars...fully loaded?
Knowledge work is increasingly
important for creating value. Knowledge work is a skill, and like any
other skill, can be improved.
How would you improve?
Check out The
Lost Blogging Manual – Answers you can use today!
