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Probably, but in reality it's either used as an opportunity for upper management to pat themselves on the back in front of all the employees, or to ask everyone to "walk the extra mile" (for the nth time) because business is going awry.

It is possible to let folks know where the company is going without incinerating an hour of everyone's time (far more than an hour for exec staff that are part of "the show").

Moreover, the author says his company, Square, has an all-hands every two weeks! I've heard great things about Square, but other companies should NOT "try this at home". It works for them, but it would be a disaster at most other places.

All-hands meetings with the top leadership is great to let everyone know where the company is going.

Absolutely agreed. But you don't need more than 1-2 of those meetings a year.

Or conversely if the company is going somewhere different every two weeks then the company probably has some bigger problems to deal with.