Cancel that meeting says Angela Casey, managing director of CM Porter Novelli, Edinburgh

I was a great fan of the TV comedy The Office. One particular episode was brilliant, when Gareth led a meeting where no one could discuss anything that was not on his agenda. Sometimes taking a step back and looking at office behaviour and traditions is a worthwhile exercise, even if not as subversive as the way that Ricky Gervais does it.

So today I am questioning The Meeting. Do we need as many meetings as we have? In these days of electronic communication, BBM, conference calls and Skype? Or is it just one big waste of time, getting in the way of the day job?

In PR, relationships are important and building connections of trust is vital. We can only represent our clients or colleagues if they trust us, and we can only do the best PR for them if we know where they are coming from. Getting to know them is an important first step in creating the right PR strategy and programme. We all know the pain in trying to do PR in a vacuum, so the people element is important. To that end, meetings are valuable in order to ensure the PR is on the right track.

However, once the PR plan is underway, there is a danger that regular checks and balances become an excuse to spend too much time navel gazing or just talking. If we are doing our jobs properly we should be providing regular status reports and updates and talking on the phone to our clients and colleagues. Meetings do not need to be face-to-face if we think about how to communicate effectively. A half-hour conference call can be just as effective as a meeting that involves preparation, travel, printing out a forest of agenda and papers, and going through the trouble of brewing all that coffee.

Don’t get me wrong – I love a meeting: the structure an agenda brings; the refreshments; the chat; the chance to avoid the phone and the emails; and the opportunity to have a good gossip with the people I work with. However, sometimes I believe we could all get a bit more done without the time these meetings can take. Furthermore, I believe we can build relationships as an ongoing thing, not just via the occasional meeting – and I sometimes wonder if the need for meetings is so intense because we are all relying too heavily on social media and emails, which can never really replace conversation.

In the past, I have said that social media should not replace good, old-fashioned networking. Similarly, I believe that emails and electronic communication cannot replace the benefits of the phone. Too often, I see people hiding behind emails rather than picking up the phone, and the overuse of voicemails is a barrier to communication. A phone call itself creates a relationship and gives a far better indication of someone’s character and thoughts than an email ever can. How many times have we all taken offence at an email when unable to interpret the underlying tone of the writing? It is difficult to know what people are thinking, even if they use exclamation marks, capital letters and even those little emoticons ;o)

A phone call enables you to ask a question and receive an instant answer – amazing! It also enables you to come to a conclusion and agreement that might take a whole stream of emails and it gives you a good chance to find out more about someone and what makes them tick. It is also a great way to resolve an issue quickly and defuse a brewing argument.

So yes, meetings have their place in relationship and trust building (and the coffee is very nice), but when I gain momentum for my campaign to reintroduce the telephone call, office life is going to change dramatically.