Work meeting etiquette

[Meetingtimes]

just been on back to back meetings all day again, and feeling so frustrated with with following;

• General update meeting - everyone has a 5 min slot, people going over this consistently with absolute drivel nobody needs to know about, prompts that there time is up, but carry on in the weeds
• Meeting running over, some smart arse asks a question that could of been asked directly to the person at a later time
• No cameras on, even by the presenters, I kid you not I once did a full days training with an external trainer and they didn’t switch their camera on once!
• Having an open calendar policy, but still getting diary clashing invites
• Not responding to an invite at all
• leaving your mic on instead of just having a default so it mutes on calls with 10s of people

I might just be stressed (from all the tedious meetings) but why do people do this, especially the first 2?!?

Having lost 24 minutes of my life today to a meeting that could have been a two line email I feel for you. That said, some people have shit Internet or are ashamed of their houses etc so don't turn their cameras on. That is OK, we don't know our own privilege sometimes.

People dragging out meetings drive me mad.

I have an open calendar but often get double or triple booked because people outside the organisation can't see my calendar.

I feel your pain, but recognise that there are some reasons why things happen.

The house shame thing I have to disagree with, if you can’t turn your camera on in a meeting due to your house shame, you need to go into the office, or find a place to take your meetings where there is a blank wall, blur your background, or chose a background.

Quite a lot of organisations I work with, their consultants will have some kind of branded background etc, Or have a picture of their office as one

I had crippling jaw pain worsened by having my camera on (I am neurodivergent) but i was in back to back meetings most days. Now i am in a different role and have fewer meetings and can manage my camera on alot better. Just another perspective.

I also hate when people dont get to the point though in meetings.

I have an open calendar. My boss always books meetings that clash. Maybe it's a power move to say that they are too busy and important to check whether the meeting time works.

Agree with all apart from the no cameras one. I love having my camera off so I can walk on my walking pad during the meeting. 😂

I recently went to a meeting about how to run effective meetings, so as not to waste the business and our clients’ valuable time. The facilitator arrived late, there was no agenda, no structure and no summary of takeaways / actions / follow up exercises. It was the most extraordinary waste of time for the 30 attendees who presumably had many other things they could have used those two hours for.

Get one of those under the desk cycle exercisers! 😅

People waffle and meetings over-run if there's a rubbish chair/organiser who can't manage a meeting.

I have quite a lot of meetings but it's rare to have time wasters as we all want to get them done as quickly as possible. It's a very busy place - I suspect time wasters don't have much actual work to be getting on with.

I’m guessing Public Sector, possibly Civil Service?!! I’ve had 27 years in the Public Sector and this is my life 😢, especially now we work from home. We seem to have meetings about meetings which annoy me so much.

And my boss could talk for England! He makes our hourly team meeting over run by at least 20 mins every week 🤷‍♀️ Oh and then there’s the awful bit at the end of meetings when the chair asks if anyone has any questions. Most normal people just say no, but there’s always some smart arse who just has to say something and holds us all up. I just glare at them 😤

Open calendars are fine but actually more than two invitees and I end up hoping someone can come anyway or we won’t meet til August … the updates, absolutely drive me bananas

Hate cameras, I turn mine off. In my opinion if people want to see my face it needs to be in person

I'm public sector too though. We're all too busy to faff about.

I've not had a meeting over run since COVID. Everyone just logs off onto their next one on the hour.

I find this whole issue with camera’s baffling as we can see everyone in face to face meetings. The background thing is silly as you can have a background on. Another reason for employers to want staff back in, nothing less engaging and motivating than a meeting with camera’s off.

I agree about the chair needing to manage the meeting and keep people to their time limit.
It’s so frustrating as some people just love the sound of their own voice and have no awareness that they are digressing.
I feel your pain op

Unless you have a special agreed accommodation or it's a very large meeting where you're not required to contribute in any way I think it's the height of rudeness not to have your camera on.

Please add to your list colleagues calling on teams when you are in a call. Before I call anyone I check first

Clashing invitations is sometimes unavoidable. If I’m arranging a meeting with, say, 5 other people, sometimes I have to just go with the time that works for most people. Or for the people who are most important to the meeting. The partners at my firm have completely chockablock calendars and if they have to be in the meeting, someone else might get an invitation that clashes.

Civil servants?

I don’t turn my camera on as I never put on make up when I’m WFH, most people don’t turn their cameras on now for various different reasons, Microsoft teams makes everyone look pretty awful IMO

Yeah, lots of people also don’t accept / decline invites so you have no idea whether they will turn up or not

1 - meetings should end at scheduled time, or before. Overruns, unless very marginal or driven by someone super-senior are unprofessional.

2 - cameras should always be on. I always call, out people who switch cameras off, unless it’s just for a minute or so (e.g, a toilet break which you might have in a physical meeting).

3 - I don’t mind someone sending me a meeting for a slot that’s booked out in my open calendar unless they mind me declining it. It it’s a meeting i feel I have to attend, it can’t, then I decline asking for the meeting to be rescheduled.

4 - ambient noise from other people’s unmuted microphones is asking for a sarcastic comment.

Ultimately, other people are often dicks. If they are, treat them accordingly.

This can’t be a real response!

Why

Because it is a business meeting, not a beauty contest.

If wearing make up is important to someone, they can get up and put it on before they start work, but most people manage to do their job without wearing make up.
It is a ridiculous reason for not taking part in a meeting fully and would not be considered as a reason to not put your camera on where most people work.

Don’t be ridiculous!!
I’m a highly qualified professional ( 7 years to qualify) and if I choose to wear make up I will, if I choose not to I won’t, it isn’t necessary for cameras to be turned on in most meetings anyway.

In my profession 90% of people have their cameras turned off so it makes no difference. When I’m in the office as I’m a senior member of staff I want to and need to look professional and good grooming is part of that.

If you don’t wear make up that’s fine but you really need to understand that a lot of highly qualified intelligent women actually do

Such a silly comment