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Joint ministerial meetings (RIM) are the common form of inter-ministerial coordination work. However, their concrete functioning, unanimously decried, is a black box in the sociology of public action. Based on a survey of members of ministerial private offices of Ayrault and Valls I governments, this article proposes to study them from the perspective of a comprehensive sociology. This leads to nuance the commonly accepted idea that “nothing happens” in RIM. Beyond the ritualization of exchanges, advisers’ reputation and also their professional future are at stake at least partially. The skills deemed necessary to “win” are however not available to all advisers and favor those who have a bureaucratic capital.