>This is a nice way of saying that some people just won't tell you what they're up to async, you have to wring information out of them synchronously.

Like, you explicitly ask them in an IM and they don't tell you?

Not telling you on their own, I can understand. If the former happens though, you have bigger problems, that asking on a real-life meeting wont solve.

Seriously. This sounds like, "I can't manage my direct report, so I need to waste the time of everybody else on the team just so the little punk realizes he can't hide forever."

A team meeting should not be the go-to solution for "Bob is bad at communicating"!