Why I Hate Meetings

As one whose life is defined by Meetings, it’s no surprise that I found today’s headline article in Inc.com’s Daily Resource for Entrepreneurs so compelling. The title: New Study Reveals Why Meetings Are SO Unbearable. [I added the boldface to the word SO!] The article presented research gathered by Opinion Research USA meant to measure the annoying meeting behaviors that push people past the tolerance threshold at business meetings. While there weren’t any remedies presented in the article, I have to admit the findings were very interesting … and convicting: “…27% ranked disorganized, rambling meetings as their top frustration, followed by 17% who said they were annoyed by peers who interrupt and try to dominate meetings.” There were other fascinating results:“…respondents over the age of 55 considered meetings without a bathroom break a significant issue, and for respondents ages 18 to 24, serving food is a priority at meetings…” hmmm, I just happen to be 55 this year. Interesting, indeed! If anything, the study just reinforced some of the basic principles I’ve been collecting for the Best Practices for Church Boards: “if you are someone calling the meeting, organize it, control everyone during the meeting, and make sure the people there aren’t wasting their time…” Read the whole post here: http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200705/meetings.html