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Stupid Meeting Tricks
Apr. 6th, 2022 05:04 pmPeople dump a lot of hate on workplace meetings. There's been a popular meme in social media for years now, "This meeting could have been an email." Well, I don't think meetings suck. I actually like meetings... provided they're run well... which is surprisingly not hard to do.
Lately, though, I've been frustrated with a number of meetings I've attended. The thing is, it's not because they should or even could have been an email, but because at least one key attendee isn't taking my time seriously. I wonder if it's because s/he thinks, "Well, this is just a time-wasting thing that could/should have been an email...."
Here's a list of Five Things I term Stupid Meeting Tricks I've suffered through recently:
1) Cancel the meeting... 2 minutes before it starts. I understand, sometimes a meeting that's been planned has to be canceled because something else up and it's really urgent. But how often do you really have only 2 minutes notification that you have to cancel a meeting? I have a busy calendar. When you've booked a meeting that I'm attending, I have probably had to decline something else instead or at least schedule other work around it. When you then cancel that meeting casually I'm left with what's often an unproductive gap in my calendar with no time to plan anything else.
2) Book 60 minutes for a 20 minute meeting. Similar to the above, don't waste my time by asking for more of it than you really need. You may think I'm happy to "Get back 40 minutes of [my] time" but that's not always the case. As above, my commitment to attend your meeting means I've turned down something else or rescheduled it. Some other task may be blocked for a day or two because you overbooked my time.
3) Johnny Come Lately. Sometimes you're late to a meeting. I understand it can't be avoided. But if you arrive late, for fuck's sake don't make us all start over. And don't join in 20-30 minutes late and try to take over the agenda. You don't know what you're doing. You can't; you weren't here.
4) The "Silent Drop". If you're a critical attendee to the meeting and you accepted the meeting invitation, for fucks sake attend the meeting. Don't waste everybody else's time with the "silent drop", where you don't bother showing up.
5) The Light is On but Nobody's Home. This one pisses me off even more than the Silent Drop. It's when a key person attends but doesn't really attend. They're not mentally present. Typically they're camera off, on mute, but the real problem is they're not speaking up when they're needed. When called out by name, there's a noticeable delay before they stumble off mute and ask, "Sorry, could you repeat that question." When you're a key party to the discussion you've got to be ready to participate. Really participate. This is not the time to be taking a call from your car, your kid's soccer game, etc. If you can't commit to mentally attending the meeting, don't accept the invitation. It's better to reschedule it to a time when you can be 100% present.
Lately, though, I've been frustrated with a number of meetings I've attended. The thing is, it's not because they should or even could have been an email, but because at least one key attendee isn't taking my time seriously. I wonder if it's because s/he thinks, "Well, this is just a time-wasting thing that could/should have been an email...."
Here's a list of Five Things I term Stupid Meeting Tricks I've suffered through recently:
1) Cancel the meeting... 2 minutes before it starts. I understand, sometimes a meeting that's been planned has to be canceled because something else up and it's really urgent. But how often do you really have only 2 minutes notification that you have to cancel a meeting? I have a busy calendar. When you've booked a meeting that I'm attending, I have probably had to decline something else instead or at least schedule other work around it. When you then cancel that meeting casually I'm left with what's often an unproductive gap in my calendar with no time to plan anything else.
2) Book 60 minutes for a 20 minute meeting. Similar to the above, don't waste my time by asking for more of it than you really need. You may think I'm happy to "Get back 40 minutes of [my] time" but that's not always the case. As above, my commitment to attend your meeting means I've turned down something else or rescheduled it. Some other task may be blocked for a day or two because you overbooked my time.
3) Johnny Come Lately. Sometimes you're late to a meeting. I understand it can't be avoided. But if you arrive late, for fuck's sake don't make us all start over. And don't join in 20-30 minutes late and try to take over the agenda. You don't know what you're doing. You can't; you weren't here.
4) The "Silent Drop". If you're a critical attendee to the meeting and you accepted the meeting invitation, for fucks sake attend the meeting. Don't waste everybody else's time with the "silent drop", where you don't bother showing up.
5) The Light is On but Nobody's Home. This one pisses me off even more than the Silent Drop. It's when a key person attends but doesn't really attend. They're not mentally present. Typically they're camera off, on mute, but the real problem is they're not speaking up when they're needed. When called out by name, there's a noticeable delay before they stumble off mute and ask, "Sorry, could you repeat that question." When you're a key party to the discussion you've got to be ready to participate. Really participate. This is not the time to be taking a call from your car, your kid's soccer game, etc. If you can't commit to mentally attending the meeting, don't accept the invitation. It's better to reschedule it to a time when you can be 100% present.
