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— Office Properties Quarterly — September 2016
H
ave you ever been to a com-
pany retreat or team-building
weekend? How about a
catered lunch in your build-
ing’s courtyard? Bagels and
coffee in the conference room on a
Tuesday morning? If your entire firm
was in attendance for any of these,
you were likely in an “all-hands”
meeting.We’re all familiar with the
term “all hands on deck,” but it was
the jargon-crazy business types who
whittled it down for sales effect.
Like every other companywide
initiative, the all-hands meeting has
been rigorously poked and prodded
by thought leaders bent on construct-
ing strategies and goals, most likely,
to minimize loss and maximize pro-
ductivity and profit. And it seems like
those thought leaders are smitten.
It’s become clear that the all-hands
meeting is a worthwhile investment
to a great many companies, large and
small.Workplace consultants and
time-management experts are bull-
ish on what makes these meetings
tick, right down to the minutes and
seconds during which the gathering
should yield the best results.
What’s often missing, curiously, are
substantial details about the meet-
ing spaces. It could be that all-hands
“theory” has not yet caught up with
the most modern and valued advanc-
es in office products and design. More
likely, it’s the very notion that meet-
ings themselves seem to inflame a
significant block of business leaders
who just can’t stand the thought of
ever again attending one.
The Truth About Meetings
Multidisciplinary management
experts don’t seem
to mince words
when it comes to
the gut-level impact
of workplace meet-
ings. They’re sim-
ply the scourge of
American business.
They’re the chief
time drain of any
given workday and,
even when well
planned and well
intentioned, they
can descend quick-
ly into the incessant chatter of trivial-
ity and abject dullness. Or worse.
“Meetings are where minutes are
taken, and hours are lost,” said Jamie
Todd Rubin, noted paperless office
guru and tech blogger.
There’s very little stated evidence
that all-hands meetings have some-
how risen above the subject of this
tirade. In fact, all-hands meetings are
inherently more difficult to organize
and execute than “regular” meetings,
thereby exposing them to higher-
caliber time wasting. But working the
problem from a facilities standpoint
has offered some relief, at least to
those who actually attend the meet-
ings.
This does not apply to those large,
multinational corporations that rent
hospitality, entertainment or out-
door space for annual off-premises,
all-hands meetings. That’s a differ-
ent animal altogether. But what of
on-premises spaces? Can companies
afford real estate dedicated to all-
hands meeting space? The answer is,
sort of.
Kim Hoff
Senior project
manager, Kieding,
Denver
Design
(303) 329-8100 |
EPA, Region 8
Downtown Denver’s Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 headquarters chose to
conduct its all-hands meetings in a fixed, bleacher-style seating area in the building’s
light-filled atrium.
