Meetings

Have you noticed how some of your co-workers have this habit of inviting the entire world to their meetings – whether their participation is value-added or not? Stuck in one such meeting I was doing the tight rope walk of trying to stay awake while looking intelligent, and actively suppressing homicidal thoughts, I silently wondered why these morons would tie everybody up in this useless exercise. Maybe they like showing people how hard they are working or maybe they just like to hear themselves talk. Maybe it’s the office calendar feature which is just so cool that they can’t resist inviting people so they can ‘refresh’ and check how many have accepted. Or it could be the fact that they have nobody else to talk to. Heck, I have a sneaking suspicion my ex-boss used to call meetings when she wanted to show off her new dress. What better away to parade your new dress around then to call a meeting where you know there will be at least one person pathetic enough to notice and compliment you, and the rest will be subversive enough to feel obligated to do the same. Whatever the reason, these people need to grow up. How many of you have been invited to meetings with no agenda? If you don’t have an agenda, don’t call a meeting. Let’s just chat over lunch.