I used to work at a company that would have a companywide meeting in the cafeteria every quarter. They would go over the previous quarter’s sales and financial numbers, talk about progress towards company goals and lay an outlook for the coming quarter. They would also celebrate any big wins we had as a company; for a while it was a party almost every quarter as we consistent beat sales records quarter after quarter.
I was very early in my career at this point, working in a desktop support role. I felt like I was at the bottom of the pecking order and in an auxiliary overhead function at that. So when these meetings came up, I was resistant to walk down the long corridor to the cafeteria (IT was as far from the designated eating space as you could get) to listen to the upper brass talk about the business.
One time as the meeting was about to get underway, one of the senior programmers saw me walking in the wrong direction and asked if I was going to the company meeting. I told him that I had some stuff to do and wouldn’t make it. He raised an eyebrow and asked what I had to do that was so important. I’m sure I managed some kind of response, but through the fog of twenty years I don’t remember what. His response, however was something I haven’t forgotten: “Everyone who has – or wants to have – an impact at this company goes to these meetings. It’s a self-selected group of people who want to be influential. I would think hard about going if you want a career here.”
I’m pretty much always going to show up for cake.
Ouch. I wrote last week about the importance of clarity – and that Sr. Programmer left absolutely no ambiguity about whether there was value in attending the company all-hands meeting. If I wanted to be one of the people who is viewed as being valuable, I needed to show up. I don’t remember if I turned around on my heels to go down or if I went back to my cube first, but I ended up at the meeting. I don’t remember what was said or what the topics were, but I do remember that I got a piece of cake – so that was pretty cool.
Today at the University that I work at, we occasionally have open forums with top executives and I enthusiastically go because it’s an opportunity to hear important information about what’s happening at the university and also to interact with other employees outside of IT both before and after the event. While I attend every time, I have noticed that IT tends to show up at a lower rate than other functional areas of the organization. This doesn’t seem to be limited to university-wide all-hands meetings, but also when we have an all-IT meeting it seems like there are a few who have somewhere else to be more often than I think is probable. In the recent Covid timeframe when we are primarily working from home, I’ve noticed the same people who avoid the in-person all-hands tend to have their cameras off in larger meetings.
In talking to a few colleagues at other companies, I’ve heard a similar pattern that is often brushed off with a statement like “well, IT people are more likely to be introverts,” or “those meetings aren’t relevant to my job.” I think this is a mistake, and I want to give you just a few quick reasons why I think you owe it to yourself to show up at these types of larger informational meetings.
First, it’s a place to interact with those outside of your immediate working group. Remember why we’re in IT at all – to make the organizations we serve more effective, efficient, and competitive. In the 21st century, IT is a driving force of innovation and if used properly a strategic asset to the business. It’s not just the overhead that companies keep around to fix the dot matrix printer – even traditional companies are being transformed in tons of different ways by the digitization of their business. So you shouldn’t be limiting yourself to only working with other IT staff. Building relationships with people outside of IT can give you a better perspective on what is happening with the company overall.
That brings me to my second point, which is that these kinds of larger meetings are often the first place you catch wind of large changes in the organization or market that you operate in. It’s where you can get insight into what the company views as essential elements of success for the whole organization. If you are paying attention this information can help you align your work to support those elements. Even if you don’t have that much latitude in what work you are doing (and trust me, we’ve all been there at one time or another), it can help you understand why the work you are doing is important for the company. And in my experience, knowing why you’re migrating from one data center to another makes the work feel that much more purposeful than just doing it because you were told to.
I’ve already basically said it outright up above, but these kinds of events are a great place to be seen and show that you’re interested in the company as a whole. Showing up effectively makes the statement that you care about the organization you work for and want to be involved in it. And trust me when I say that leadership is always paying attention to who appears to be invested in the organization’s success. Of course, your organization’s culture plays a role here – in some cases it may be expected that you attend, and if you don’t you are effectively stating that you don’t care. That’s a bad look. But it could also be true that if you come in, sit as close to the door as possible and generally act disengaged that people notice. The point is that you should be paying attention to what the minimum cultural expectation is – and then exceed that.
Look, I probably like crowds less than you do, but I realize how beneficial these events are for my career.
I hope you see it soon, too.
Finally, I’ll double down and say this – while employers want an engaged employee and you may get more opportunities for being one, you will definitely benefit from being more engaged and participating more in company wide meetings or department-wide team-building exercises. It’s just simply more fun to work somewhere that you are invested in. I think of this a little bit like being in an airplane. While you can get along by just looking at your seat, it’s more fulfilling to be able to see where the aircraft is going – that’s why some airplanes are now putting cameras so passengers can see what’s in front of the plane via the seatback entertainment system. The point is, you will almost certainly enjoy your job more if you’re participating and getting invested in the culture of your company.
So, if you hate where you work – ask yourself why. Is it truly a bad fit for you, or would it be more enjoyable if you invested more into the role? If you don’t hate it – you should work to try to be as integrated into the fabric as possible - so attend those all-hands meetings. IT isn’t the back-office role it was in 1995 – so at a minimum you should show up and show your face! You’ll be a better employee and might get more opportunities, but you’ll probably enjoy 8-10 hours of your day more - and that’s never a bad thing.
And hey, maybe if you do show up there will be cake.
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Finally, I want to point out that decisions are made by those who show up. If you want to be influential, you need to be in the room – and in the United States, that’s never more important than it is this coming week.
If you love the direction this country is going – then make sure you get out and vote to keep it going that way.
If you think we’re way off course - then get to the polling location to make sure you vote for change.
There isn’t a wrong way to vote, but democracy only works if we all vote. You have to show up and show face in order to be important – so show up and vote.
Questions for you to think about:
Does your company do all-hands meetings? Do you make a point of showing up?
If you do attend – have you noticed any positive outcomes? If you have not, what is preventing you from attending?
Most companies announce these kinds of meetings well in advance. Can you be intentional about attending and schedule them?
