to not be able to bear being in meetings any more?

[liltclassic]

I cannot take the sound of other people's voices going on and on and on any more. I've spent nearly all week stuck in meetings with people droning on about absolutely nothing and I honestly feel like weeping with boredom. I'm in one at the minute and someone has been speaking in the most monotonous voice imaginable for an hour and it's physically painful it's so boring. If he doesn't shut up soon I'm going to start crying.

AIBU to think that people shouldn't talk in meetings unless they've got something to actually say, and it's rude to keep going on and on and on?

I'm a brilliant daydreamer and very lazy.... Always happy to sit in a meeting for hours on end rather than have to do any actual work

Meetings should be held standing up, no drinks, no phones and only hard evidence produced to prove the point otherwise totally useless IMO. If you don't have evidence to support your point shut the fuck up.

Op I see you have tapped into a deep well of bitterness and anger here

As an aside I typed bitterness with a u instead of the i and my phone tried to change it to butter bean. A deep well of butter beans.

Then have a word with the chairs boss.

Like Bad said, my Dh is very good and chairing and won't let people drone on.

You have to address this.

YANBU, I loathe meetings.

Mug

I hate hate hate meetings so much that i have just negotiated an earlier start and a 4.30pm finish each day because of "childcare issues"!! It's not true, it just gets me out of going to meetings! I am emailed the minutes and can ask if i have any questions- i never do!

It's when they show slides with bullet points - then read each point, word for word, on the slide. Slowly. You've already been sent the presentation in advance and read it already. And read it again on the screen before point 1 is finished.

Then an extra long pause for 'any questions', when it's obvious most people want to get out and regain the will to live. Which either results in the person running it looking all hurt with an 'Oh. Okay" OR even worse someone takes the bait, throws out a question avoiding everyone's eyes in the back of their head all thinking 'you utter bastard'.

Boss' ex boss guilty of both of the above, thankfully he's moved on!

The only meeting I remotely enjoyed was when a fellow manager dropped her notebook and let out a ripper of a fart when she bent down to pick it up. She quite calmly said 'oh excuse me, it's the pulses'. I thought I was going to die trying not to laugh.
😂😂😂

Where I work we hardly ever have meetings when we could really do with having them about once a month, but we don’t have time!

I used to set meetings to 25 minutes - everyone got the hump "oh we cant possibly do X in that time" but actually, you can

I found that the best decisions were made in the first half, and the second half of an hour meeting was just shit

Also made the decision to do 25 (or if pushed, 55) minutes so people could leave and get to their next meeting on time, instead of being perpetually late. It put peoples backs up no end

The OP is not being unreasonable. I do not have too many people such as those they describe, and am selective as I can be about attending meetings that I am not chairing (being part of an operations team there can often be an incident requiring me to leave after a certain number of minutes).

Fines for overrunning
Meetings standing up are apparently a lot quicker and better for your health!
I am with you though 90pc waste of time, nothing gets decided or resolved. Needs a strong leader to keep moving things along

YANBU

I cope by running a musical in my head - Les Mis, Greatest Showman.....Have never once missed anything of great importance. Meetings are sou;l destroying, joy sucking.ego massaging wastes of time.

I live in Germany and our meetings max out at 25 minutes. It’s bliss after a life in UK in tedious financial services meetings. There’s just No damn need.

I'm a brilliant daydreamer and very lazy.... Always happy to sit in a meeting for hours on end rather than have to do any actual work grin

Yes! I don't get this meeting hatred at all. What sort of loon wants to work all day, when they could be having a lovely rest in a meeting? I've written some of my best poems while the dick-swingers do their stuff for hours on end.

I hate hate hate meetings too OP

What can we do ? Elon Musk saidnhe encourages staff to leave shit meetings and flout procedures if they stop progress

I might go and work for Tesla !

Ha!! I told my boss yesterday that I was sick of meetings and didn't want to go anymore. She said that I have to go, I'm the minute taker 😉

I don't tend to be in meetings where people drone on and on. Must be a perk of working in a law firm where lawyers bill in 6 minute segments of time. Our meetings are purposeful and intense.

I was in a meeting once where someone was stoned and spoke absolute bollocks for over 40 minutes. We egged them on by asking ridiculous questions and timed them.

People in my organisation like to have 'chats' in the communal area with comfy sofas.

All a bit W1A

I don't do comfy chats 😂

I bloody hate meetings!!

Luckily, our office has done away with most meeting rooms (we have 2 per floor and they're nearly always booked up) and encourages open conversations in the office or we have 'snugs' for more private conversations.. not everyone's cult of tea but it has cut down the monotony of endless meetings.

As a PP has said though.. public service here and yes, I'm often the only female!

CUP of tea!!

Then have a word with the chairs boss.

Like Bad said, my Dh is very good and chairing and won't let people drone on.

You have to address this.

The chairs don’t have bosses 😭. And they like the sound of their voices too much too. I’m so pleased to be home with no one talking.