Meetings at my office make me want to shoot myself

[Anonymous]

I can't handle it anymore. We are a small office. We meet weekly as a group and it is miserable. The worst part is, the people who are the worst offenders (talking too much, not starting on time, derailing conversation, not following agenda, not taking time to identify what really needs to be addressed with the big group) think they aren't the ones with the problem. It is such a gigantic waste of time. I have twice said something to the big boss (with specific suggestions) who promised to change the agenda, but it remains the same (the last time I brought it up was at least 6 months ago). It is not a collaborative discussion - just people spouting off what they are doing. Often repetitively. Worse, many times people have side conversations or talk over one another. And the person who controls the agenda is the worst offender. Acckkkkkkk! I. Can't. Take. It.

Just needed to vent that somewhere, but if anyone has ideas on what to do, I'd love to hear them.

[Anonymous]

pretend you're in an episode of The Office?

[Anonymous]

record the meeting next time, then replay it to your boss or your bosses boss.

[Anonymous]

I've been there, OP! I managed to convince my boss that group meetings are just a big waste of time if there isn't a big project that every member of the office is a part of. Wasted time = wasted money.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you are going to have to suck it up -- it is just one of those things you don't like, but can't change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:pretend you're in an episode of The Office?

OP here. Thanks. that made me laugh.

[Anonymous]

Just hearing about the meetings at my husband's office makes me want to shoot myself. He routinely (2-3 times a week) has multi-hour teleconferences. It doesn't sound like much happens at them, just people talking about what they are doing. Then, if that isn't bad enough, he then has to write up the minutes of the pointless meetings and send them to others who also don't care about what happened at the meetings.

I count myself lucky that meetings at my office are usually quite productive. You meet if there is an action/decision point that needs to happen for people to move forward, so there is a point to the meeting.

[Anonymous]

OP here again... yes, I think what is so surprising to me is that everyone knows the meeting sucks. Even my boss - the big boss - spends the meeting on the BB/iPhone/iPad...

[Anonymous]

OMG. I had that meeting today. Do you work in my office? I plan grocery lists in my head, work to-do lists in my notebook, etc. The only bad thing is if something important actually does get said, sometimes I miss it!

[Anonymous]

How does the saying go? "Meetings . . . none of us are as dumb as all of us?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG. I had that meeting today. Do you work in my office? I plan grocery lists in my head, work to-do lists in my notebook, etc. The only bad thing is if something important actually does get said, sometimes I miss it!

OP here - haha. maybe you are my coworker!

[Anonymous]

HA! You must secretly be one of my coworkers. We were recently told to keep our updates to a minimum, and, you got it, the person who made that request is the one who goes on and on and on. About nothing at all. And then when anyone else talks she literally slouches over as if she's reclining in her chair, ready to go to sleep. They are a horrible waste of time. And if she does actually talk about the subject matter at hand, as in why we are all working in this field, she utters such nonsense that it truly defies logic that she's employed at all.

[Anonymous]

My work friends and I used to choose a secret word of the day. The more obscure, the better. Whoever first used the word in conversation during the meeting won.
Plus bonus points if someone else (not in on the game) then picked up the word and used it in their endless blathering -- as happened when the secret word was "fuzzy." My friend used the phrase "fuzzy logic" and then a senior partner appropriated it and used the phrase a bunch as the meeting went on and on. Just trying not to laugh each time definitely kept us awake!

The other variation is BINGO. Come up with nine trite/cliche words that the annoying people like to use in meetings, and make BINGO boards for your friends. Works best on conference calls -- a bit harder to pull off in in-person meetings . . . .

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My work friends and I used to choose a secret word of the day. The more obscure, the better. Whoever first used the word in conversation during the meeting won.
Plus bonus points if someone else (not in on the game) then picked up the word and used it in their endless blathering -- as happened when the secret word was "fuzzy." My friend used the phrase "fuzzy logic" and then a senior partner appropriated it and used the phrase a bunch as the meeting went on and on. Just trying not to laugh each time definitely kept us awake!

The other variation is BINGO. Come up with nine trite/cliche words that the annoying people like to use in meetings, and make BINGO boards for your friends. Works best on conference calls -- a bit harder to pull off in in-person meetings . . . .

Good luck.

This is pure genius. I work in a meetings-heavy environment. We are luckier than OP most of the time: we are all in the same project and there are clear outcomes out of most meetings, but there's the occasional monumental waste of time meeting....but we can bail out most of the time.

[Anonymous]