Laptops in meetings are a distraction
I’ve been attending more meetings lately where someone brings their laptop. I’ve found that the laptops distract more than they contribute. These are not presentations or using a projector so we can all see a common screen to comment on. They’re just round-tables to discuss some topic.
People are checking their email or doing other things instead of participating in the meeting, which makes the entire meeting less productive. We don’t call meetings very often, so when we get together I want to get to the point and have everyone pay attention so we can all get done.
I used to bring my laptop to meetings. I thought “I’ll take notes on this and then I can send them to everyone.” In reality, my notes didn’t make any sense and I had to retype them anyway. Not very worthwhile, especially because I could have used my hand to do illustrate points instead of typing.
It’s also much harder for me to take a laptop and sketch something out and show it to someone. Now, instead of using words to describe it, I’m becoming more visual when I say “So, something like this…” because people are visual. This actually produces better results because people look at the paper and offer suggestions. Everyone starts from the same drawing instead of their own perception of what I said, so comments apply to the context at hand.
If there’s someone at the meeting that’s just there to take notes, then sure, they bring a laptop and type things up as they go. Stakeholders should participate, not transcribe.
Next time I attend a meeting, I’m going to pay special attention to the participation levels of users with laptops vs those without laptops, just for curiosities sake.
