“I think we can just…”
A leader of an online meeting just said “I think we can just…” and I got tense. In this particular case, it turned out to be fine (this post is not about the specific case today), but my reaction made me think it was worth exploring that kind of phrase a little more.
My strong association with phrases like that is that the meeting leader is about to discard some system that was put in place to help meeting participants.
I think I most often encounter it during convention panels and work meetings, especially in phrases like “I think we can just speak without the microphones. You can all hear us, right?”
I think people who say that sort of thing are generally well-meaning but ignorant about the importance and value of using microphones. Microphones are generally much easier to hear than unaugmented voices, which is hugely important for attendees who don’t hear well; also, microphones are generally necessary for letting remote attendees hear what’s being said.
And when a meeting leader says there’s no need for microphones, it can cost attendees substantial time and energy to correct them—someone has to be willing to speak up, and then get the leader’s attention, and then explain what the problem is, and then sometimes deal with the meeting leader rolling their eyes and sighing.
So from the meeting leader’s point of view, “I think we can just” is just a casual decision made on the spot (probably intended to reduce formality and improve belongingness) and stated in a quick aside that has no significant effect on anything; but from the point of view of the affected attendees, it’s a big deal that can add substantial stress and a significant barrier to participation.
In the above, I’m focused on microphone use because that’s the context in which I most often hear this kind of casual throwing-away of an important system. But I feel like “I think we can just” is also used in other related ways. Such as: “I think we can just skip the system for submitting questions and instead you can yell out any questions you have.” Or: “I think we can just get together in person and take our masks off.” Or: “I think we can just leave our seats and all gather in a standing-up circle here at the front of the room.” Or: “I think we can just skip the agenda and instead I’ll tell you a funny story.” (None of these examples are quotes; they’re just my fictional examples of the kinds of things I feel like I’ve heard meeting leaders say.)
I know that a lot of people have a lot of resistance to systems and rules, and I know that when you’re in charge of a meeting, it can be very tempting to discard anything that feels like it’s restricting you, and to try to make things more relaxed and casual. And in some contexts, making a meeting more relaxed and casual can be really great.
But if you go into a meeting that has established systems in place, and you casually shut down those systems without finding out why they’re in place, you often make things harder on the participants rather than easier.
