Writing is Dying: The Zoom Meeting Epidemic
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Chapter 1: The Meeting Madness
The sentiment that writing is fading away, overwhelmed by endless meetings, has become a familiar joke in workplaces.
"Can you believe the number of meetings today? I haven't even had a moment to work!"
How often have you heard similar comments around the water cooler—virtual or otherwise? How frequently have you uttered them yourself this week? The rise of Agile methodology has led to a chaotic blend of overflowing calendars, not to mention the absurdity of bi-weekly meetings that actually occur twice a week! Daily standups, retrospectives, and planning sessions have proliferated, creating a convoluted mess of strategic discussions that could easily have been condensed into emails.
Another commonly heard phrase is this:
"That meeting could have just been an email."
So, why wasn't it? We're suffocating meaningful writing in this sea of meetings.
While I won't dismiss emails entirely—they can be tedious as well—it's clear that meetings are becoming more prevalent while emails are becoming cluttered with spam and automated responses.
Writing demands intention.
Crafting an email without substance is harder than setting up a Zoom call, where you at least capture the attention of several people, perhaps six, eight, or even twelve, for a brief moment. They are somewhat forced to engage with your monologue. In contrast, a purposeless email often ends up feeling like a diary entry—read by no one, with the best you can hope for being an automated reply from the office overachiever or a "I'm out of the office" message from someone in accounting.
When writing, you might only get a few lines deep before realizing that your words lack purpose. But even for a skilled communicator, the worst outcome is wasting time, resulting in something your colleagues will likely glance over during their lunch breaks before hitting 'delete.'
However, pulling a group of people away from productive work—or, worse, precious family time—to sit through a Zoom meeting allows you to ramble for an hour, feeling accomplished, despite sharing little more than outdated information or anecdotes. In that moment, you may feel like a thought leader, even while your audience is multitasking behind turned-off cameras.
Section 1.1: The Value of Conciseness
Writing rewards clarity and brevity.
It's much easier to speak at length during a Zoom meeting, a phenomenon not limited to just meetings; consider the majority of today's YouTube content, which often favors lengthy, convoluted presentations over straightforwardness.
We all remember the days in college or high school when we stuffed our essays with fluff just to meet a word count, but those days are behind us. Brevity is crucial. Deliver your message with as few words as necessary, sprinkle in some humor or sarcasm, and move on. Save the poetic musings for your YouTube channel or while chatting with friends at the bar on a Thursday night.
Crafting an email requires more discipline than babbling in a meeting. Repeating the same point multiple times in a meeting can fly under the radar, but doing so in an email would quickly appear ridiculous.
Subsection 1.1.1: The Agile Overload
We've allowed Agile processes to spiral out of control.
While I won't claim to be an Agile expert, it seems contradictory for an ideology focused on efficiency to prioritize time spent in meetings over delivering features. Daily standups, bi-weekly check-ins, and sprint planning sessions have become entrenched routines, perpetuated by tradition rather than necessity.
If this is Agile, perhaps it deserves reevaluation. I'll stand by that opinion, regardless of potential backlash on social media.
Section 1.2: A Call to Action
It’s time to resurrect the art of writing.
Blogs should take precedence over YouTube videos; emails and documents should replace Zoom calls. We need to restore thoughtful communication by adopting methods that demand more consideration. It's essential to value quality over quantity. Let's turn back the tide, even if it means committing to the often-repeated phrase,
"Per my last email…"
It's worth the effort to reclaim our time from the relentless cycle of Zoom meetings.
Chapter 2: Embracing Thoughtful Communication
In this video, "Act Two: Transitioning to TV Writing from Previous Careers," the speaker discusses the challenges and strategies of shifting into a writing career after working in other fields, emphasizing the importance of adaptability and creativity.
The second video, "MAN OF STEEL Writer Defends Zod's Death," delves into the creative decisions behind character arcs in film writing, inviting a deeper understanding of narrative choices and their implications.