What is a Topless Meeting?
Topless meetings are a relatively new trend in meeting management. In an effort to increase productivity during departmental or managerial meetings, many companies are choosing to ban the use of all electronic communication devices for the duration of the meeting time. This means no laptops, no cell phones, and no Blackberry handheld devices. Some companies are also choosing to ban the use of pagers during meeting times as well. One of the major reasons for the development of a topless meeting format has to do with a lack of direct communication among those attending the meeting. Rather than actively participating in the meeting discussions, many attendees divide their time between listening to whomever is speaking while also sending text messages, checking email, planning upcoming appointments, or even drafting the text for letters. This has created a situation where people interact more via some type of electronic device than face to face discussions in a board or conference room. Un
