Communication is Work - by Benedikt Kantus
In the fast-paced world of product management and software engineering, many of us complain that meetings slow us down. We often see them as roadblocks to getting important work done, like writing user stories, refining backlogs, or, in the case of developers, good old coding.
Let's take a step back and rethink this. Communication isn't a distraction; it's a big part of what we do. Product managers use it to bring teams together, share information, and gain useful insights. For software engineers, conversations help solve coding challenges through collaboration.
Meetings, whether in person or online, are opportunities to collaborate. They're not interruptions; they're opportunities to align on goals and make sure everyone is on the same page.
Seeing these exchanges as part of our work is a shift in thinking. Instead of seeing meetings as annoying interruptions of our work, let's see them as places where products get better, plans get sharper, and teams get more connected. It's about making our communication smart, fast, and meaningful so we can move our work forward.
Meetings are not the answer to everything, and there are many benefits to working asynchronously. We need to choose the right way to communicate, and meetings are one way of many, depending on the situation.
