Comment by andrei_says_

Cunningly my company doesn't do meetings, at least not on the developer side. Obviously there are interactions but they are one-on-one and are not reoccurring.

My experience though is consulting to large organizations. They have lots more people, more layers, and hence need more accountability. I get the need for that, but also see that balance is required. I help both sides understand the requirements of the other party, and help them find balance so that both sides win.

Part of that is helping programmers understand what managers need, and part of that is helping managers understand what programmers need.

Managers, for example, are happy to add everyone to every meeting. Workers usually prefer one on one time.

Equally co-workers often benefit from set-aside time for team meetings. This helps with in-team communication.

Information flow is necessary. Doing it well is better for everyone.

> I was just thinking about how for the people requesting all of these meetings, the meetings are the work.

This is a huge problem in all orgs of any size and one I battle with - misaligned incentives.

> For engineers, meetings are the non-productive part and are not counted anywhere.

Part of addressing the issue is to not be binary in your thinking. You'll lose the people you need to persuade. Some meetings are very productive and necessary for engineers. The goal isn't to get rid of all meetings as much as it's to only have productive meetings. When forced to only have productive meetings, fewer meetings naturally result.