Meetings Glossary

Browse 34 meetings terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

34 Meetings Terms

Bike Shed
A trivial topic that receives disproportionate discussion because everyone can have an opinion on it, while complex important decisions get rubber-stamped....
Bikeshed Color
A symbolic trivial detail that attracts more debate than it deserves because everyone feels qualified to opine on it.
Bikeshedding
Bikeshedding is the tendency for groups to spend disproportionate time and energy debating trivial, easy-to-understand issues while giving insufficient...
Bike Shedding
Spending too much time debating small, easy-to-opine-on details while more important difficult issues get less attention.
Bike Shedding Slang
A slangy way to refer to spending too much attention on trivial details while bigger and harder issues remain unresolved. In engineering culture, bike shedding...
Bike Shedding (v.)
Bike Shedding (used as a verb) means engaging in lengthy debate over trivial matters while neglecting more important ones. When someone says a team is bike...
Brainstorm
A session for generating ideas quickly and openly before narrowing them down. In tech teams brainstorming can be useful for exploration, though poorly run...
Brown Bag
An informal lunch-hour talk or knowledge-sharing session, historically attended while people brought their own lunch in a brown paper bag. In tech culture...
Calendar Invite
A scheduled meeting invitation sent through a calendar system, often carrying time, attendees, agenda, and conferencing details. In tech culture calendar...
Camera Off
Describing a remote meeting participant whose video camera is disabled. In work culture, camera-off norms vary widely and can reflect comfort, fatigue,...
Can You Hear Me
A now-classic phrase from remote meetings, usually said when someone’s audio setup is uncertain or broken at the start of a call. In tech work it became a...
Coffee Chat
An informal one-on-one or small-group conversation, often framed around coffee, used for networking, mentoring, relationship building, or low-pressure...
Daily Standup
A short recurring team meeting, usually daily, where people share progress, plans, and blockers. In tech culture daily standups are common but frequently...
Death by Meeting
The exhaustion and loss of productive time caused by too many meetings, especially low-value ones. In engineering slang, death by meeting is the opposite of...
Deep Dive
A detailed exploration of a topic, system, incident, or decision rather than a quick overview. In tech culture a deep dive can be invaluable when it surfaces...
Dev Meeting
A meeting primarily for developers to discuss technical work, coordination, issues, or plans. In team culture the usefulness of dev meetings depends heavily on...
Empty Chair
A symbolic practice of leaving a chair empty in a meeting to represent the customer or absent stakeholder whose interests should be considered. It is more...
Face-to-Face
Describing communication that happens in person with people physically present together rather than through digital channels. In team culture face-to-face...
Facilitation
The practice of guiding a discussion or process so a group can think clearly, stay focused, and move toward a useful outcome. In work culture facilitation is...
Hard Pass
A strongly negative refusal used to reject an idea, proposal, or option without much ambiguity. In technical discussion it is casual but intentionally...
In the Weeds
Too deep in low-level detail to maintain perspective on the bigger problem or decision. It is often used in meetings when implementation specifics start...
Lightning Round
A quick rapid-fire sequence of updates, questions, or decisions. In engineering slang, lightning rounds are useful when focus is real and useless when...
Parking Lot
A list of off-topic or lower-priority issues captured during a meeting so they are not lost but do not derail the current agenda. In facilitation, using a...
Popcorn Code Review
A review style where comments, opinions, or walkthrough turns bounce rapidly between several people, like popcorn popping around the room. It can be energetic...
Put a Pin In It
To pause a topic and come back to it later instead of resolving it immediately. In engineering slang, this can be healthy meeting discipline or a polite way of...
Retro Slang
A casual use of 'retro' to mean any retrospective conversation about what just happened, even outside formal agile meetings. It reflects how team-process...
Running in Circles
Repeatedly taking action without making real progress, usually because the team lacks clarity, ownership, or a stable approach. It often describes debugging,...
Screen Sharing
The act of broadcasting one’s screen to others during a meeting, support session, or collaboration call. It became a core remote-work habit for debugging,...
Standup Comedy
A joking term for daily standups that become performative, rambling, or more about appearances than coordination.
Standup Meeting
A short recurring team meeting, often daily, where people share status, blockers, and immediate plans. Originally meant to be brief and coordination-focused,...
Status Meeting
A recurring meeting focused on checking progress, blockers, responsibilities, and next steps across a project or function. Status meetings can be useful for...
Take It Offline
A request to move a detailed or side-topic discussion out of the current meeting or channel so the main group can continue. It can be efficient or a polite way...
Unstructured
Lacking a predefined schema, formal format, or consistent organization. The term appears in data work, writing, communication, and sometimes in criticism of...
Zoom Fatigue
The mental exhaustion caused by long stretches of video meetings, constant self-presentation, limited nonverbal cues, and reduced cognitive rest between calls....

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