October 27, 2016 at 7:59 am
Please note that this is a 4 year old topic, and the issue of IT employees wasting time at work has since been determined to be no longer an issue.
🙂
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 27, 2016 at 8:03 am
Iwas Bornready (10/27/2016)
...Sure work at home if you want. You can take the dog out when it whines or grab a drink or two or three from the fridge, answer the front door, go get the mail. You can all sorts of things which you would never at work, and end up working less, being less effective, and certainly less helpful to others. That's my take on it.
It is down to the individual. Works for some. Not for others.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
October 27, 2016 at 8:10 am
Chris Harshman (10/27/2016)
Miles Neale (10/12/2012)
Meetings can be good. However, they need to be short, to the point, make decisions, and not be rambling sessions where everyone gets their say three or four times, a round table, a role call vote and then table it till the next meeting when the same thing happens.And then there are those wonderful meeting where two do not agree and it is not taken off line but worked out over the next hour and a half with 15 people in the room. And in the end the resolution is that the two agree to disagree and really it is only semantics, and it does not really matter.
But a good short to the point meeting works. And it works very well if there are not too many of them.
M.
I think this points out some of the biggest problems with meetings. I can't tell you how many meetings I've been scheduled for, that didn't have an agenda, didn't have someone acting as the facilitator of the meeting to ensure conversations stayed on track, and didn't properly record questions brought up, decisions made, and other results of the meeting.
You need an agenda so people can prepare for the meeting, too often people come to meetings unprepared, and either try to wing it or say "I don't know", which results in more meetings to discuss the same topics again. If someone isn't responsible for a facilitator role, attendees may be reluctant to try to keep conversations in line. If you don't track outstanding questions and decisions made, then they may be forgotten resulting in... more meetings! :sick:
Ooooo... you hit a major sore spot with me. I'll add that certain managers and project managers think that they're not actually doing their job unless some form of noise is coming out of their mouth and will actually raise their voices to overcome anyone trying to get a word in edgewise. I've actually had to wait for more than 30 minutes to say "I have a solution and here it is" in some of the meetings. When I've tried to talk over these tongue-waggers, the person in charge of the meeting (who is one of the worst offenders) has told me not to interrupt because everyone gets to talk but when it is my turn, I get interrupted constantly. I used to get angry about all this but you can't get angry with someone that has no brain, just a steam powered tongue. 😛
You also have the other idiots that bring their computers with them and "multi-task" instead of listening to anything going on. When they're called upon for something, they end up responding with "Um, what? Sorry, I wasn't listening" and you waste even more time by explaining to them (and getting interrupted in the process) because they're in the critical path of the meeting subject.
Then, there are those that think it's ok to have side conversations even though a major point is being covered. It makes it impossible for people on the phone to pick up on anything being said because of the microphones on the full length of the conference table and they also do the "Um... what?" thing when they're called upon.
Total waste of time for me to go to most meetings because of all that nonsense and so I don't. If they need me, they can come get me and then it better be good because I'll also leave a meeting if I see nothing productive coming from it. That actually seems to be working in an unexpected manner. They've started to listen when I do talk in a meeting. It's like taking a cup of water from the ocean but at least that's some progress.
--Jeff Moden
October 27, 2016 at 8:22 am
Jeff Moden (10/27/2016)
...You also have the other idiots that bring their computers with them and "multi-task" instead of listening to anything going on...
Erm...I am answering this on my phone in a meeting 8-(
...but it's that kind of meeting.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
October 31, 2016 at 2:41 pm
Jeff Moden (10/27/2016)
Ooooo... you hit a major sore spot with me. I'll add that certain managers and project managers think that they're not actually doing their job unless some form of noise is coming out of their mouth and will actually raise their voices to overcome anyone trying to get a word in edgewise. I've actually had to wait for more than 30 minutes to say "I have a solution and here it is" in some of the meetings. When I've tried to talk over these tongue-waggers, the person in charge of the meeting (who is one of the worst offenders) has told me not to interrupt because everyone gets to talk but when it is my turn, I get interrupted constantly. I used to get angry about all this but you can't get angry with someone that has no brain, just a steam powered tongue. 😛
To me, this is like coaching. You have to learn when not to talk, when not to correct. It's hard because you feel like you're not doing anything if you can't contribute as a coach, but sometimes it's best to just let things move on.
Same for managers. Learn when not to talk or make something happen. Sometimes the best management is letting people work through the issue.
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