Long, boring meetings - am I the only ones tortured by them?

[Patiod]

I'm thinking of resigning from an elders group at my church (I'm only on it because I write the newsletter - I'm hardly an elder) We sit in a circle at one of the member's houses, and these people talk and talk and talk and talk and NEVER COME TO A G$#D$#MED conclusion. God forbid anyone wants to move the agenda along, then she (okay, I) am accused of "not letting everyone have their say". Anyone who admires the Quaker concept of "consensus" has obviously never seen it in "action" (or inaction, to be precise)

They last for THREE HOURS and NOTHING gets accomplished. Some of the topics that consume HOURS of our time, but are never resolved:
- whether there should be a clock in our meetinghouse
- the wording of the Christmas card (too much attention to Jesus? Not enough?)
- whether to change the name of one of the committees

This is an absolutely true story, told and confirmed by people who have never lied in their entire life: TWO cats have laid down in the middle of the circle at this committee and died. TWO. DIFFERENT. CATS. My S.O., who is not a Quaker, calls the committe the "cat killers" as in "are you going to Cat Killers tonight?" and says the poor cats died of boredom.

I'm not the only one that thinks this way -- here's exactly what happens, in the form of the "How many Quakers does it take to change a lightbulb?" joke

Is anyone else plagued by long, stupid meetings?

[Hugin]

1. I've been to meetings where even the people who thought we needed a meeting were...

bored.

LOL!

Ooo... This reply was kind of boring. Wasn't it?

:yoiks:

[Patiod]

2. The only consolation I have: at least I don't work for Big Pharma

My clients all do, and they spend about 7 hours a day in inane meetings.

Make the Quakers look like rank amateurs in the Time Wasting department.

[zappa_parappa]

3. Sounds like my work

Hours of meetings every week with nothing ever getting accomplished...some people i think need to justify their jobs by spinning wheels constantly.

Had a 6 hour argument over what color green we should use on a flyer we were sending out! Ugh, and the stupid activities they try to make me do to feel like part of the team, fuck the team, I'm here to do a job, which i hate, and go home...i don't care about the rest of them, they should just leave me work in peace and spare me from the pointless meetings and team building exercises.

[kwassa]

4. Part of this is the nature of church committees

I now try to serve on as few as possible. They are often composed of retirees, and stay-at-home parents, neither of who have any great need to get anything done within a certain time. These meetings wander all over the universe and back. Anyone who is getting a job done in the business world needs to get to the point much faster.

[Patiod]

6. Thank you, kwassa.

I think that's the problem.

We also have a few "now hold on there" types -- as soon as anything is decided, they need to be sure that absolutely every possible facet of the decision has been examined in minute detail.

I'm used to things at my job, where meetings are quick and to-the-point (yes, I'm spoiled - maybe the Quakers are my kharmic payback for not having to put up with this stuff at work all day)

[Zavulon]

5. NO, you're not the only one.

I'm circulating my resume because of them.

[Guava Jelly]

7. If I am in a meeting for more than 15 minutes I narc out

It's better than ambian.

[RubyDuby in GA]

8. This past Saturday it took over 6 hours to elect the new officers of the DPG

The State Committee of the Democratic Party of Georgia met to elect the new officers. Two and a half hours into it and the Chair position hadn't been filled yet - I was ready to gouge out my eye with a spork! 4 hours in and Chinese water torture would have been preferable. By the 6th hour, I was ready to take a hostage to get out!!!!

[Patiod]

13. I bring books and crosswords to county committee meetings

This year was fun - we got to meet (future Congressman) Joe Sestak, and got to decide whether to go with Casey or not for Senate (we held our noses and did it because we correctly believed he could be Santorum), but usually they're fairly dull.

[RubyDuby in GA]

17. Me and a select group of friends from around the metro area tailgated

We had jello shots and we'd slip out while the votes were being counted. It only helped so much!

[Critters2]

9. We don't make decisions by consensus,

at my church, but I've been on some conference committees that do. That is torture! My own church rarely has meetings that last more than an hour. One committee was meeting for an hour and a half or two hours regularly. They decided their mission was too broad and split into two committees. Now, people interested in one area or the other are on the respective committee, and they're back to short meetings.

My moderator is firmly convinced that no meeting should last more than an hour. God bless him! :)


Oh, and the cat killing thing...that is creepy beyond words.

[Patiod]

14. I did not believe the cat story

except for the extreme credibility of those who reported it: several deeply un-imaginitive Quaker elders!

[Ellen Forradalom]

10. IRC is a godsend

Hold the meeting in a place with WiFi.

[Patiod]

15. Which would work if two members weren't over 80

One almost blind, and one almost deaf (so we have to repeat all the arguments to her, loudly).

I love work teleconferences, though. That's what on-line games were made for.

[Ellen Forradalom]

18. Offer to install WiFi at their house

Then meeting time is SURFING time!

[KurtNYC]

11. When I started one job, my boss took me aside and explained

that we have fake meetings on our department schedule to avoid being pulled into other departments' pointless meetings. We would book a conference room and then you could go in there during the time and do whatever you needed to do without being interrupted even by phonecalls. So it worked well for us. Other departments never did catch on. But still way too many REAL meetings. You would wind up working into the evening because your day was consumed by meetings (or preparing for meetings).

[BOSSHOG]

12. The power of an organization is directly proportional

to the number of meetings it has. The more meetings, the less power. A wise old Admiral started his first meeting off with that bit of wisdom. He said we will meet when necessary, not when its Tuesday Morning at 0800. And when we meet, all involved will be fully prepared for the set agenda and provide clear, concise input in how to meet a specific goal, all will positively contribute or not contribute at all and all will be on time and all will end on time. Any questions? It was a great two year tour. Totally did away with insignificant chit chat and side bar nonsense.

[Patiod]

16. I can only call some of my clients before 9 or after 4

because they are literally in meetings all day. But if you email them, they'll answer, so I don't know how much attention they can possibly be paying to their meetings if they're replying to emails.

[Redstone]

19. I'll be damned. I have a very good friend who teaches at the Plymouth Meeting

Friends' School, which is just up the road from your group.

About the meeting thing: You have to take charge and keep things moving. the meetings ONLY get long because nobody is willing to do that.

Redstone