With a lot of luck, a garnish of garlic and a wooden stake or two, we can finally go back to…

…in-person meetings!

Maybe I got that wrong. Maybe it should be: With a lot of luck, a garnish of garlic and a wooden stake or two, we can finally kill off (unnecessary) meetings.

Meetings, meetings, bl… boring meetings. Are you also tired of unproductive meetings? Here’s how to get out of them, constructively.

But first, let’s define unproductive meeting. It depends. Meetings can be useful, but not necessarily useful in equal measure to all attendees. Some will find the meeting more effective than others.

Want to know before the meeting which camp you fall into? Ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that can happen if I don’t attend? And what good can I do if I do attend?”

If your answers are trivial, then ask the meeting convener the same questions. “What is the worst thing that can happen if I don’t attend? And what do you expect me to contribute if I do attend?”

If the convener cannot give you compelling reasons, then stay away.

However, if the convener is your boss, and the compelling reason is “you keep your job”, then by all means attend. As we say in the classics, you will live to meet another day.

Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.