I’ve been working for an enterprise corporation for 5+ years, which I’m going to be leaving soon. This organization is suffering from a wide-spread malady called “meetingitis”. This phenomenon bothers me from time to time, especially when I’m being pulled in those pointless meetings, wandering about the same thing over and over again without coming to a conclusion or a solution. Then there are also those kinds of meetings where you don’t have anything to say or contribute; these are just a complete waste of time.
Yesterday, Yves pointed me out on Twitter that it is perfectly fine to leave a meeting if you feel that you’re not able to gain or contribute anything. Today, I walked out of a meeting where one of the participants started making insults against me. I just stood up, walked to the door and left. And I must say that it felt liberating doing so. I went back to my desk, calmed down and got some actual work done. Without a basic form of respect, one simply can’t achieve anything, let alone come to win-win agreements. From now on, I’ll be evaluating all meetings that require my presence before I accept them and also keep evaluating my presence while being there.
Let me close of this mini-rant by sharing a must-see recording of a talk called “Why work doesn’t happen at work” by Jason Fried. I recommend you watch this short video, and if you like it, I also recommend picking up a copy of Rework.
I hereby rest my case.
