The Senate confirmation hearings for potential Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito are part of a time-honored American tradition. Every committee member has thirty minutes to ask questions, but most of this time is not used for either questions or answers. Instead, senators spend most of their time promoting themselves.

In a Seattle Times editorial, Carl Jeffers finds fault with the process more egregious than the political positions of candidates. He calls this grandstanding a “broken process”, even sarcastically suggesting that:

Maybe we need hearings on the hearings process, rather than on the nominee. That might be more useful.

Meetings are a part of work, even for a workplace as illustrious as the United States Senate. It is appropriate to gather employees together to make a decision, but if that meeting does not have a productive structure you may end up with more posturing and speechmaking than actual discussion. Meetings are work, and work can be made more effective with methodology engineering.

If the conference room at your office is taking away from work, consider reaching out to Slaughter Development. Our team helps organizations make more effective use of time and ensure that meetings help the company to succeed.

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