We’ve hit Maximum Dilbert. We’re having a meeting…ABOUT FUCKING MEETINGS.

At the office, there are many meetings. Some are necessary. Some are not. Most of them go on for a very long time. Most are not as productive as they should be because nobody knows how to run a meeting. On top of that, even if you present an agenda and a time limit, there’s always that one guy who feels they have a right to go completely off on a tangent and start yapping about a topic that is not the focus of the current meeting.

We had the meeting on Tuesday and as usual it was not productive. All of the wrong things were said. I didn’t raise my hand to offer any comments because nobody wants to hear them.

I would have said:

• The meting organizer should send the Topic, Purpose, and Agenda of the meeting with the meeting invitation. They should also send any documents to read of point out items to be familiar with.
• If there are doubts as to the need for the meeting, after the invite is sent, discuss separately in person or via email. If more than 5 emails are needed, the meeting should be done.
• The meeting should be no more than 1 hour (even for planning)
• The meeting organizer starts the meeting by taking attendance and begins with a short introduction and begins the discussion.
• Be succinct when speaking and stop saying UMM UHHH AHHH ERRR. Think it, process it and GET IT OUT!
• Never leave the meeting without an outcome and action items. Never plan another meeting in an ongoing meeting.

Anyway, back to the same old bullshit!