Meetings

I remember a time, long ago now, when a meeting was something you held when you wanted to get something done.

There was a problem that needed to be fixed? Hold a meeting.

There was a decision that needed to be made? Hold a meeting.

There was a new staff member you wanted to tear to shreds behind his back? Have a girl's night out.

The remnants from this time live on in my memory, and whenever I'm invited to a meeting (or just when I see one naturally forming) I feel a little frisson of excitement that something effective is about to happen.

Rest assured, it's not.

Nowadays the meetings being held tend to involve looking at a problem from all sides before disbanding with a promise to get together again later to consider it further. And don't worry, if perchance we make a decision, we can always meet again to backtrack out of it without any cause for concern that events may progress in the meantime.

I had four meetings on Wednesday. What did I get out of them you ask? A familial acquaintance with a cupboard. No more.

But not to worry, I had another meeting today. I'll have another two tomorrow. I also have a lunch date and I think I'll get more out of that hour than any of the ones taken up in meeting rooms.

Not that I'm entirely complaining. After all, if I wasn't in a meeting room I'd be staring at a Sharepoint site or an Excel spreadsheet.

They can almost make people look good.