Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I dislike most meetings as they are not a time to accomplish work but merely a time to socialize. The worst type of meeting is one that is going to be short. Short meetings waste more time and last longer than any other type of meeting.

I dislike the majority of meetings. The meeting I dislike the most is one that promises to be short. That doesn’t sound right, so let me repeat it:

short meetings are the worst type of meetings

Please keep reading.

A meeting I attended last week is a prime example. An email was distributed announcing a twice-a-month meeting. The agenda was sparse, so the meeting “should be” short. I could hear a collective sigh of relief from the disbursed group when I read this promise of a short meeting. Then I groaned. I knew what would happen:

• people would arrive believing the meeting is going to be short
• people – “knowing” that they have extra time in the meeting – start to chit chat
• the chit chat raises new topics
• people decide  “now that we are here, we might as well talk about those new topics”
• people talk about all those new topics brought about by chit chat
• the meeting runs 25% to 50% overtime

I sigh as my forehead thumps flat on the meeting-room table. Last week’s meeting was true to this form.

This is an outgrowth of what I have noticed to be the purpose of 90%+ of all meetings:

a time to socialize

Socializing is good, but if that is what we are to do, let’s leave work and go someplace nice. I have had the mistaken impression for years that meetings at work were a time to accomplish work. Silly me. These social meetings occur in private industry. They occur in government service more than private industry. They occur in volunteer work more than in government service.

There are those delightful exceptions in all endeavors where meetings accomplish something. I have yet to have one of these delightful exceptions start with the phrase, “We don’t have much on the agenda, so this should be a short meeting.”