Meetings in the workplace

Meetings are ubiquitous in societies and organizations, and they are often taken for granted. Meetings are a key organizational practice by which organizations are talked into being. They include problem-solving, decision-making, and sensemaking through which organizational goals are achieved. However, meetings are an institution: They have a ritualistic function in the workplace. This chapter widens the everyday conception of meetings by showcasing their role as communicative practices to make things happen in organizations. The chapter specifies the key communicative processes that take place before, during, and after meetings, and points out the features of a good meeting. After building an understanding of the communicative phenomena in meetings, the chapter concludes by offering ways to improve meeting communication and the motivation of participating them.