I Don't Know Who Needs to Hear This but . . .

"hillrat" (hillrat) 07/15/2020 at 12:33 • Filed to: None

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......d on’t have hour long 11am meetings that run 30+ minutes over time.

Seriously, WTF? Schedule the meeting for 90 or 120 minutes so we know what the fuck is going on and can plan accordingly. Also, d on’t worry about the fact that people aren’t generally capable of paying attention for more than 45 minutes under ideal circumstances.

#MeetingZombie

For Sweden > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 12:39

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I just eat during meetings

hillrat > For Sweden 07/15/2020 at 12:40

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Good call, but 11am is too early for me to have lunch ready and me & the boy are going out for burgers as soon as this fucking meeting ends!!!!

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 12:41

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Do you have the post meeting meeting? Those are always great. About month ago had an hour half meeting, had lunch then a five o’clock meeting again with client  “Is that all you got done? ” “ in the last 4 hours, yeah”

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 12:41

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I had a meeting over Zoom that had a fixed time slot. We kept getting closer and closer to the end and people kept talking. Eventually, the meeting just ended and everyone got kicked. It was... awesome.

hillrat > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 07/15/2020 at 12:45

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Not today, but the immediate post meeting meeting is so entrenched in the DoD there’s an actual name for it. It’s called a “Hot wash”

hillrat > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 07/15/2020 at 12:46

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I would have spontaneously blown a load when that happened.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 12:49

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Do you know how many hot washes I’ve been to? Every time I hear that, I die a little inside.

Also, yesterday I had a 30 minute meeting following by 1 hour of training followed by 2 hours of training.

fintail > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 12:52

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Meetings are the greatest thief of productivity.  I especially love pre-meetings, post-meetings, and even pre-pre-meetings.

Nibby > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 12:53

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farscythe - makin da cawfee! > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 12:57

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i used to like the meetings that started right after my lunch break and finished when people ran out of questions

eventually management cottonned on that there were always lots of questions when we could be working instead... so now they plan meetings 45 minutes before lunch or close ....wierdly enough almost nobody has questions anymore

nermal > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 13:05

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Would you prefer the meeting organizer sending out a meeting agenda ahead of time in an email, then taking a half hour simply reading over the entire email verbatim ?

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 13:23

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I generally subscribe to the 30 minutes or less meeting theory.  Off the top of my head, I'm not sure I can remember anything useful ever happening after about 20-30 minutes into a meeting.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 13:39

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I was in one continuous series of meetings on Monday from 10 AM to 5 PM. I managed to eat lunch and pee 2 or 3 times during that time. I just put my head set down and did what I needed to do. 

ranwhenparked > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 13:40

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I almost get PTSD with bad meeting stories. I had a job for 4 years with a standing weekly Monday 8:30am all staff meeting that lasted 2-2 1/2 hours. The boss would recap the reports we all sent him on Friday, and the rest was just him enjoying hearing himself talk and repeat the same information 5 times, phrased slightly different each time.

One of my co-workers, who was more disgruntled than me, took to pouring whiskey in his coffee, because he said it was the only way to stop himself from jumping up and yelling things he'd regret later. He would just zone out and count ceiling tiles. My boss called me into his office once and asked whether I knew if he was doing drugs, because he seemed so disinterested and disengaged in the meetings that something had to be wrong with him, and that was the only logical reason. 

HoustonRunner > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 13:50

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I go the opposite direction - if I even think it might go longer to schedule it longer.  Or of there are certain people invited.  Still not perfect, I don't like taking up too much of people's time ( I'm considerate like that), but most people enjoy getting out early.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 07/15/2020 at 14:00

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I like that feature for family Zooms but then my mom went and get a paid account. Ugh 

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 14:01

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You know I really take for granted the fact that that my job doesn’t have pointless meetings.

Thanks for reminding me that I have things to be thankful for 

hillrat > HoustonRunner 07/15/2020 at 14:20

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Which is fine!!! If I have an invite for a 2 hour meeting then I know I need to strap up: hit the head, food, water, etc. and when it ends after 90 minutes I’m ecstatic. If OTOH you schedule a meeting for 60 minutes, I will be pig biting mad when it ends at 90 minutes.

hillrat > ranwhenparked 07/15/2020 at 14:22

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That’s terrible. [visible shudder] I’m so sorry you went through that.

What happens to people to make them like that? I really want something better for them.

HoustonRunner > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 14:25

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I’m with you, especially over lunch.  Don’t mess with my food.

hillrat > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 07/15/2020 at 14:30

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The meeting itself wasn’t pointless, just poorly run by an exec who keeps people on their back foot by being decisive and loud about stuff that’s not that important.

For example today, they were giving my boss a raft of shit in this meeting because we didn’t have an official sign off on a process doc. I didn’t bother to explain that the system owner and I had gone over the entire document in detail yesterday ‘cause they were tripping about the sign off. We didn’t discuss the schedule, d idn’t discuss the content, or what action management needs to take . Just the sign off and that’s how we burned up an hour and 47 minutes.

SiennaMan > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 14:38

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I’m in a position to call meetings of my folks as often as I want. (someone who worked for me previously suggested daily meetings).

I instinctively schedule them so infrequently that they will ask me to hold a meeting..

ranwhenparked > hillrat 07/15/2020 at 14:45

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Well, this organization had been in continual decline since the late 1970s, abysmal turnover, low pay, poor work life balance,covering up problems instead of fixing them, and a history of promoting people into senior management who would barely qualify for entry level positions in the private sector.

I’m not going to say the name. BUT, it is a large youth organization, currently restructuring u nder CH11, and the subject of a class action lawsuit you may have seen advertised on daytime TV. 

Taylor Martin > hillrat 07/16/2020 at 20:02

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College lectures are worse. They don’t give you a time frame, so you’re lucky if it’s under an hour. Typically my classes are 2 and a half hours this month, but last month it was 4 to 5 hours... Online meetings suck...