The term ‘meeting takeaway’ is used widely in today’s business and project worlds. The word ‘takeaway’ originated in the 16th century and combined the words ‘take’ and ‘away’. In those days it was a verb and associated with the receipt or giving of something.
The verb became a noun in the 20th century: a subtracted amount, a railcar for removing logs, and food cooked in one place and eaten in another (the American ‘takeout’). It also became a sporting term to mean the act of ‘stealing’ a ball from an opposing team or that first and all so important rearward swing of a golf club.
Despite its varying meanings and etymology, by 1976 the ‘takeaway’ was being used in business to mean the key point(s) or headline(s) associated with a meeting. It continues to this day with increasing frequency but what’s the real purpose, and why?
Meetings
For some people, meetings can be the bane of their lives. Meetings interfere with real work and getting things done; attendance at meetings is considered by some to be a waste of time. Similarly, those with back-to-back meetings never have enough time for every meeting and some struggle to make sense of any meeting they attend.
Meetings can be a waste of time if the wrong people are invited (or invitees invite their own entourage), or there is no real purpose, or there is no agenda and no focus. In today’s virtual meetings, some invitees merely appear as an onscreen image (or initials) with a muted-microphone icon; but are they there? For some with too little time they can now, thanks to modern technology be in two ‘meetings’ at the same time. This ability, and in line with the concept of a parallel universe, is referred to as attending a ‘parallel meeting’. However, their degree of attentiveness to either side of any parallel meeting remains both dubious and questionable.
For those who are truly present at meetings, whatever its purpose, the question must be asked as to whether there is ‘active participation’ or merely ‘passive attendance’. That is not to say they must actively contribute but that they should listen actively. But how often do attendees fulfill the role of spectators, particularly when there is a metaphorical cast of thousands and the real underlying agenda is a hidden one.
Confucionistically, these spectators hear what transpired but may well forget what was said. They may even remember seeing a presentation. They may well misunderstand the real outcome of a meeting and how decisions consequences have been addressed. However, by issuing a ‘takeaway’ the need to understand how or why something has been decided and even who attended is obviated. This ‘takeaway’ provides a version of somebody’s edited highlights, and we will know whodunnit.
Meeting Takeaways
Meetings are typically recorded through either Notes or Minutes of Meeting and sometimes the salient points are summarized as the ‘takeaway’. If the meeting is formed of active participants invited for their contributory capability, is it necessary to tell them what they should have gathered from the meeting and what they should do? Or is this merely reinforcing one opinion that has been raised, debated but not necessarily decided upon, and excusing participants of acting on their own volition until such time that the ‘takeaway’ or meeting record has been issued?
The key decisions or headlines should be obvious to the meeting’s participants. As such any ‘key takeaways’ should merely summarise the actions and decisions arising from the meeting. Of course, if hours have been spent beating around the bush, the effectiveness of any longwinded meeting may well be brought into question and the attention span of the participants may be sorely tested.
Providing the ‘key takeaway’, or ‘biggest takeaway’ can conveniently cover up that not much else from the meeting was worthwhile in taking away. It can also mean that the discussions could have been avoided through the effective chairing of the meeting. We rarely record how much time is wasted in meetings as we go around in circles resurrecting history and past opinions in a cyclical argument rather than cutting to the chase of assessing the facts, decision making and apportioning actions.
Takeaways are also referred to as ‘the headlines’. If this is all that’s given away or recorded then, for many people, they will ‘take’ (i.e. understand) that as these are the only things that matter. Mark Twain allegedly quipped, “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do, you’re misinformed.” For those who only read the headlines then the fine print of an entire story will be lost, some risks may be conveniently ignored, and people can well become blinkered against peripheral matters of importance.
An abridged version of anything may give some comprehension but is far from a full understanding. Furthermore, abridgements can be a ‘spoiler’ and decry a future full understanding. Woody Allen famously abridged Tolstoy’s 587,287-word classic “War and Peace” saying “It involves Russia”: humorously true, of little value and no substitute.
Comment
Takeaways in Britain are about obtaining food and we indulge in them when we desire some exotic cuisine, or there’s no time to cook at home, or we need a Plan B for our nutritional needs as the cupboard is bare. But sometimes it’s because we don’t know how to cook and can’t be bothered to learn or experiment; it’s easier to order, pay and eat. The celebrity chef Jamie Oliver summed this up when he said:
“I wouldn’t say that processed food, ready meals and even takeaways aren’t relevant to modern life, it’s just that over the past 40 years there are three generations of people who have come out of school and gone through their home life without ever being shown how to cook properly.”
The ‘British takeout’ is obviously not a ‘meeting takeaway’. But, in our busy working lives and hectic meetings’ schedules we have less and less time to look at detail and even less time to assimilate information. This, coupled with a tendency attempt to condense everything onto a minimalist PowerPoint Presentation promotes the ‘meeting takeaway’. Quick information is provided for digestion, but such information can be far from providing the necessary knowledge; things are inevitably dumbed down.
“We are what we eat” was the view of the Ludwig Feuerbach when he considered the effects of the anxiety and commotion caused by the 1848 German revolution on the population. Although not related to nutrition it indicates that if we are fed dumbed-down and opinionated takeaways we can become uninformed as well as ignorant of the bigger picture. In ignorance our decisions will be less than felicitous, and our communication will become abridged and ineffective, that’s this takeaway.
Bio:
Malcolm Peart is an UK Chartered Engineer & Chartered Geologist with over thirty-five years’ international experience in multicultural environments on large multidisciplinary infrastructure projects including rail, metro, hydro, airports, tunnels, roads and bridges. Skills include project management, contract administration & procurement, and design & construction management skills as Client, Consultant, and Contractor.