On Meetings

At most jobs meetings are common. Every so often a selected group of individuals must gather together in a particular office to discuss various topics in a formal setting. Sometimes all of the individuals are in the same office, sometimes there is an audio and video medium bringing all of the parties together. Regardless of the situation, a meeting gets people together in one form or another in order to tackle a particular problem or achieve a common goal.

At first, this may seem like a good idea. Convening to share information and bounce different ideas off of one another seems like a good thing. One would think that some sort of consensus could be reached by the end of the meeting. Proposed ideas could have all of the kinks pointed out and repaired. If the ideas contain too many problems, they could be scrapped. Unfortunately, this is not how a meeting actually operates.

In reality, the organizer of the meeting calls together a select group of individuals. An idea is proposed, and everyone voices his or her opinion. During this time, various individuals will point out all of the potential problems with the new ideas and suggest alternatives. None of these alternatives will be considered by those in charge. Everything said is basically pointless. Nothing gets achieved.

Here is what really happens. The ideas proposed at the beginning of the meeting are executed as is. There is no adjustment, no problem fixing, nothing changed. The only thing the meetings seem to accomplish is that those attending become informed of the changes that are about to take place. It is basically a "heads up." And this is the best scenario. Sometimes the meetings are even more pointless. Meetings with no agenda are the best example of this. People throw out a few ideas, no one listens, meeting ends, nothing ever comes of it. That is what happens at meetings with no agenda.

To wrap up the topic, I believe that meetings could work in theory. Logically, there is no reason that they shouldn’t. But sadly, people are not very logical. Any potential that a meeting may have is immediately put to rest by the sheer stupidity of others. They accomplish absolutely nothing. Until humanity finds a way to get something done at a meeting, perhaps they should just be eliminated. Why drag people out of their offices if their opinions will not be heard? Simply send out a memo on the changes that will take place. It will save a lot of time and headaches.