Monday Morning Meetings

I used to work for a privately owned company in New jersay. We used to have meetings every Monday Morning at 10 am. As a Programmer/Analyst, I found them completely useless, as I had to endure the reports from finance and production and various special projects before I reported on the status of the computer programs they needed to keep everything running.



I remember people falling asleep during these meetings. I myself had trouble staying awake, but I would have been too embarassed to allow myself to sleep. How did I stay awake? It's hard to describe. Sometimes we know it's important to be there so we are. Daydreaming, doodling, or playing mental games are okay. I heard recently, that if people (or students) are doodling while you are speaking, it actually helps them pay attention to your words.



I'm sure these Monday Morning Meetings were helpful to the Director, but he was wasting the time of 8 or 9 other employees. The meetings lasted at least an hour, so thats pretty expensive, for this to occur every week. I can see that maybe he wanted everyone to appreciate how things worked together and other departments affect each other, but I doubt the expense can be rationalized in today's economy. The Director could have gotten what he needed on an individual basis or in smaller meetings. And my direct supervisor would be a better person to report to, because he knew what projects we were assigned and he also could provide information or guidance if needed.



I agree with Kevin Hogan that 99% of all business meetings are completely useless.