Perhaps only civil servants and I believe it, but 'networking' is the stuff life is made of | Viv Groskop

The Cabinet Office wants to ban ‘networking meetings’ in working hours. Call me an interfering Sir Humphrey, but isn’t actually talking to colleagues the way to get things done?

In these broken times, it’s not easy to spare a thought for the plight of the humble civil servant. But bear with me and open your heart. Last week, it emerged that the Cabinet Office has brought in new rules for civil servants about the types of meetings they can hold. Anything that constitutes a “networking meeting” now has to be held outside working hours. And if it’s a networking “event”, it has to be signed off by a senior civil servant.

Alex Thomas, a programme director at the Institute for Government, said the new rules were “reasonably proportionate as most meetings take place after work or in lunchtimes anyway”, and that “reminding civil servants that they are primarily there to do their core jobs is not a bad thing”.

Viv Groskop is a comedian and author of How to Own the Room: Women and the Art of Brilliant Speaking