When researchers probed into why people put up with the strain that meetings place on their time and sanity，they found something surprising—those who resent and dread meetings the most also defend them as a "necessary evil" ，sometimes with great passion.True，research suggests that meetings take up vastly more of the average managers time than they used to.True，done badly，they're associated with lower levels of innovation and employee wellbeing.But that's just office life，right? It's not supposed to be fun.That's why they call it work. Underlying this attitude is an assumption that's drummed into us not just as workers but as children,parents and romantic partners：that more communication is always a good thing.So suggestions abound for communicating better in meetings—for example，hold them standing up，so speakers will come to the point more quickly.But even when some companies consider abolishing meetings entirely，the principle that more communication is better isn't questioned.If anything，it's reinforced when such firms introduce "flat" management structures，with bosses always available to everyone，plus plenty of electronic distraction.In fact，constant connectivity is disastrous for both job satisfaction and the bottom line.
And anyway，once you give it three seconds' thought，isn't it clear that more communication frequently isn't a good thing? Often，the difference between a successful marriage and a second-rate one consists of leaving about three or four things a day unsaid.At work，it's surely many more than four，though for a different reason：office communication comes at the cost of precisely the kind of focus that's essential to good work.Yet we're so accustomed to seeing talking as a source of solutions—for resolving conflicts or finding new ideas—that it's hard to see when it is the problem.
What does the author say about meetings?无