Optimizing Developer Engagement in Meetings for Better Results

I write code for bread-butter, meetings are un-avoidable part of my day to day work-life. Meeting helps to understand requirements, blockers & so many other things. Some-times these meetings also result into time-waste & distractions.

Lets consider meetings as interface. Clean interface without any blocker make ideas flow better. Here are my ideas to make meetings optimal :

1. camera on & mic off :

   Please talk with words but they also talk with their hands, eyes & other body parts. When camera is off, you got only words to communicate. And this world where participants are from different backgrounds, words not enough. Looking at confused, understood, question faces are always better than blank shapes or non-moving pictures.

   There's lot of noise around us. When we working from home kids are playing, television is on. Not everything needed for meetings. Keeping mic off helps people concentrate on subject-matter. Turn on mic, when you want to talk.

2. Prepare Audience for Meeting

   You want to explain your cool idea to team or want to discuss potential issue. When you set meetings, provide brief description, links, documents, any-think that can help people to prepare for meetings. Well prepared participant make meetings more interactive, more ideas get can get exchange.

3. Keep only required participants in meeting

   Too many cooks spoil food. Invite people who can contribute.

4. Share meeting summary with concern people

   I work at low level of software development. I write code. Number of times I been in situation when someone raise code review request, jira tickets have heading but no information. It feels looking at sun-light after many many years. If you are drawing big strategy, roadmap for team, then it good to let team know "big picture"