{"id":3514,"date":"2018-10-23T03:18:28","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T03:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/why-i-hate-meetings-and-how-to-make-them-better\/"},"modified":"2018-10-23T03:18:28","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T03:18:28","slug":"why-i-hate-meetings-and-how-to-make-them-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/why-i-hate-meetings-and-how-to-make-them-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I hate meetings – and how to make them better"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n The pointless business meeting – we’ve all been there, says Stephanie
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Every time economists wonder why Britain’s productivity is so low, it takes all my strength to resist spitting out one loathsome word – “meetings”, says workplace commentator Stephanie Hare. <\/p>\n

Conference calls and video conferencing are the worst. You can write off the first several minutes because you and your colleagues will be troubleshooting technical issues, checking that everyone can see what’s being shared on the screen, and struggling to mute or unmute yourselves. <\/p>\n

And just as everyone finally gets stuck into some content, someone will inevitably crash in, apologise for being late, and the whole thing starts over. In my experience, I’ve found that it’s best to mute yourself before you start screaming. <\/p>\n

Often there’s no pre-meeting agenda, so it’s entirely possible to attend a meeting without knowing what you’re supposed to contribute or get out of it. <\/p>\n

Nor is it always apparent why some of us are in the meeting. We may be wasting our time spectating, when we could be getting on with something more valuable – like working. <\/p>\n

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\n Elon Musk: Walk out of a meeting if it’s a waste of your time
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And if no-one agrees any “action points” at the end, you can leave a meeting wondering what just happened during that hour of your life that you’ll never get back. <\/p>\n

No wonder Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, recently urged colleagues to walk out of meetings as soon as it becomes obvious that they are not adding value. “It’s not rude to leave,” he explains. “It’s rude to make someone stay and waste their time.” <\/p>\n

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is so wary of bad meetings, he’s devised an entire mitigation strategy. <\/p>\n