Meeting naughties

Quoted directly from Steel Kaleidoscopes:

Top 10 Meeting Pet Peeves

Admit it. Meetings can be a waste of time.

While meetings are an absolute necessity to bring brilliant minds together, they can easily go awry. Productivity is the end game, but it doesn't always happen.

Here's why:

1. Meetings don't start on time
This drives me crazy more than anything. If a meeting is at 9, it starts at 9. That means being ready to engage in dialogue at 9. The people filing in at 9:10 should just turn around and leave. You're a distraction.

2. Rehashing
For the people who come in late, meeting organizers feel the need to fill the late-comers in. Another waste of time.

3. Organizer calls in
If you can't be on site, reschedule the meeting (unless it's urgent or you live in another state). There's nothing more annoying than someone trying to run a meeting through Ma Belle with the participants staring blankly at the phone console.

4. Introductions
"Let's go around the room..." Suggestion - "Let's not." List the attendees in the meeting invite.

5. No action plan
You've been in these meetings. There is no real agenda. Just a dangling conversation. You glance at your watch and wonder why you're here.

6. Grandstanding
They're in every meeting, especially with senior management present. These are the people who make obvious point after obvious point only to hear their own voice and show everyone how smart they are. Annoying.

7. People on laptops
Why would you bring a laptop to a meeting? Meetings are about face-to-face dialogue. Look each other in the eye and get things done. Scribble some notes on old-fashion paper. You'll be way more present and attentive when you're not trying to locate the shift key.

8. People on Treos
Unless you're waiting for a groundbreaking decision or a frantic e-mail from IT that the site is about to go down, lay off the PDA. There's no reason to scroll through e-mail in a meeting. It's disrespectful to the person speaking.

9. Side conversations
The purpose of a meeting is for all in attendance to discuss issues as a group. That's why you're here. If it's important enough for two people to huddle at the corner of the table, it's important enough for the group to hear.

10. Acronyms
Tossing around acronyms may seem harmless, but not everyone knows what you're talking about. And because half the room is nodding, those who have no idea are probably too embarrassed to ask for clarification.