This is my honest confession about why corporate dynamics rarely change what needs to change. The end of the year arrives, Roberto Carlos thaws, the budget for the following year tightens and someone sends out a supposedly inspiring invitation. Three days of fun room to resolve twelve months of unresolved conversations.
The workshopplay season begins. Colorful table of post-its, icebreakers that only break the patience of those who work, promises to turn the page and on Monday everything goes back to normal. My problem is not with people getting together thinking, but with covering up a lack of trust, excessive meetings and a culture that does not support change with specific events.
Too many meetings, too few results
Atlassian listened to thousands of professionals and the data leaves little doubt. 78% say they are called to so many meetings that it is difficult to complete the work. 51% need to work overtime a few days a week because of too many meetings. Among directors and levels above, the number rises to 67%.
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76% feel exhausted on days with many meetings. I am not alone in this battle. \the/
Microsoft analyzed 365 usage and global searches and found persistent overload. 68% say they struggle with the pace and volume of work. The day spends 60% on emails, chats and meetings and only 40% on content creation. When leadership does not trust autonomy and the flow of information, it multiplies checkpoints, changes priority from call to call and confuses presence with management. Excessive meetings end up as a symptom of distrust and become micromanagement on a massive scale.
No trust, no safe environment, no results
Every company says it wants collaboration but few structure a culture where it happens. It’s knowing that your colleague complies with what’s agreed, that disagreeing doesn’t turn into retaliation, that vulnerability won’t be used against anyone. Trust reduces friction, accelerates information, and frees up energy to solve problems. McKinsey analyzed teams around the world and found a performance pattern. Teams with above average confidence were 3.3 times more efficient and 5.1 times more likely to deliver results when compared to those with low confidence.
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There is no dynamic that creates instant trust. When the team no longer listens to each other, any playful exercise becomes artificial and evaporates as soon as the daily pressure reappears. Trust is born from visible routines. People deliver on what they promise, leaders protect the space for truth, disagreements are handled with respect and transparency. From there comes the psychological security that transforms meetings into real work and makes the meeting a celebration of what already exists in everyday life.
I love changes
In my company, no one can stand to hear me repeat myself – we are always changing and that will not change. I don’t bet on easy formulas or fun encounters because changing requires courage to change what really holds things back. Change hurts and exposes contradictions. But this is when culture comes off the wall with an inspiring phrase and becomes a competitive advantage.
I like the book Immunity to Change which shows why so much initiative dies when facing an invisible immune system. Hidden commitments and deep-seated assumptions make us hold the brakes while we step on the accelerator. The speech says we want to collaborate. The practice protects status, control, or comfort zones. If the organization does not see this mechanism, each workshop becomes a foreign body that the body expels.
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It is the one by one that is repeated, the honest return of information, the decision that follows clear criteria, the recognition that happens when no one is looking. The team learns to trust because it repeats itself. Feedback routines that treat errors as data and not as blame. Frequent decision-making spaces that reduce the need for last-minute improvisation. The confidence that is lacking in workshops is born from this stubbornness of everyday life.
If the team doesn’t trust and doesn’t have time to focus, no event will be resolved. If Monday still contradicts what was said on Friday, it is not the format that is failing. It’s leadership. Work starts on Monday, continues on Tuesday and so on.
