With things like wiki, email, and web discussion groups, physical and/or vocal meetings are usually a big waste of time in comparison. Most techies "get" this, but managers do not. Are physical meetings eventually going to go the way of the personal secretary?

I agree that occasional meetings are okay, but it is usually overdone.

''Disagree. The bandwidth of communication between a group together in a room is incredible. Most techies don't get this, they just want to hide. There are a lot of stupid meetings. That doesn't make all meetings stupid.''

Nobody suggested banning all meetings. It is a matter of degree. What "bandwidth"? Usually it is a lot of pomp and circumstance and posing. Sometimes one is called on to make snap judgements that are better left to a few hours of pondering anyhow. I make crappy technical decisions under the pressure of meetings. Meetings perhaps are more effective when outsiders are involved because they don't have access to the internal systems of information.

''I have usually found that meetings are dysfunctional.  The things best handled by meetings are done through written documents and the things best done through written documents are handled by meetings.  Anyone else notice something similar?''