Colleagues breaking down into tears in meetings

[Givenup2026]

I have never experienced this before. Yes out workplace is chaotic, but I didn’t think it was that chaotic or toxic.

It definitely has left me speechless and I don’t know what am I supposed to do beyond offering my support.

I didn’t want to jump ship, but I think I might to actively start looking.

has this happened to anyone before? And what ended up happening?

What's the context? What was being discussed?

Happened in schools during Covid.

quite frequently.

lots left as soon as possible without letting the kids down, either for another school or left teaching all together.

I was that woman crying in a meeting once. I got another job where I am much, much happier.

I've worked in two places where people often ended up crying after meetings with seniors. Both places were incredibly toxic and I should have left them much sooner than I did.

It's a massive red flag.

Why are they breaking down in tears?

Thats quite an extreme reaction for a meeting! Assuming there’s something background wise?

We were just discussing a project and the guy broke into tears because he couldn’t handle the pressure and the lack of communication.

My other colleague (friend really) gets stressed easily.

If you ever find yourself crying about work, it's time to leave.

Is it a very bad place to work? Being brought to tears by lack of communication sounds like it.

You are not supposed to do anything, in general are you happy with where you are working? Does it leave you feeling upset?

If you’re happy and you don’t have management responsibility for the people who are upset then there’s nothing you need to address and you shouldn’t feel like you have to leave. If there are things you can see that would make a tangible improvement then you shouldn’t feel communicate those to your management, maybe suggest taking the lead on a project to bring about that improvement if that appeals to you.

I had a meeting today with a senior manager where I cried. It was my third incident of consistent bullying that I had reported and they told me they weren’t going to do anything. Some work places are utterly toxic, usually the ones that give it the big EDI.

This sounds like burnout. It's not normal to break down in tears in meetings. The person needs to seek medical help for stress.

I started crying last year in a meeting. NHS Nurse meeting with a Consultant and other senior team telling me how we have missed XY & Z. I had 3 Nurses to deal with 67 patients, I was crying out of anger and frustration. Have to say it changed the tone of the meeting and they were much kinder. The Consultant and I now get on like a house on fire and work very well together so it did not do me any harm. At the end of the day I am a human who can only cope with so much pressure. Me sitting there calmly telling them did not seem to help but the tears did.

Or work in a place that is less stressful maybe?

OP people deal with things in different ways I have a colleague who can stand a lot of pressure whereas I get angry and frustrated that we are left to deal with NHS patients without the resources to give them good care. Am I wrong?

I've experienced this. Although it was a child protection team with extreme high pressure and very emotive work.

We'd have a huge shortage of public sector workers if they left after crying about work, especially front line like A&E nurses, social workers, police.

Ive been in a meeting as a client, where our NHS therapist burst into tears in the final meeting with us. Really bizarre, but I think she was crying out of frustration for us. She left the job a month later.

I've only experienced this when an emergency meeting was called to announce the death of a colleague.

My DC’s workplace (magic circle law firm) has a special room for this. They call it the Crying Room. They won’t be staying for much longer…

If it's multiple people it's almost certainly the work place is more toxic than you realise. Even very high pressure environments should not have people breaking down in meetings routinely.

This generally happens not because there is pressure but because people don't feel supported to meet the objectives, think they will be blamed for things beyond their control, or are being thrown under the bus by others.

Exactly! My colleague told me all blame was on him.

We used to joke in my old job that you weren't experienced until you had cried in every room in the office.

I got bonus points because I also cried in the defunct lift.

Did anyone stick up for him or did they all just blame him, no wonder he cried.

We’re completely different teams…. But I get that his boss has big ideas but leave his “minions” to figure them out.

Solving the problems are not his problem.

As a manger I’d be concerned about my employee’s welfare . As an employee , I leave

Happens in schools frequently 😢