Victimized by a haywire confluence of random statements and non agenda driven meeting

Some one rightly said “not all meetings are a waste of time, some get canceled” Have you ever been a part of meeting that has a prefix “lets discuss” I’ve been a victim of one, lately. Meetings without an agenda always overshoot. Since it’s a free speech, every person thinks this is his/her only chance to speak and he/she spends time to think and then speak and thinks and speaks and… All others, being very courteous, wait patiently for their turn to babble some words of wisdom, without which, may be, the hell would break lose. So what’s the secret behind the patient and serene atmosphere? No, everyone isn’t dead, but I guess they would be, if they’re part of such a soul crushing meeting, every other day. So to maintain my sanity and still attempt to be a good listener, I often observe the expressions of my teammates; they range from a pitiful cry to disgust, from a sleepy face to a killer instinct. It's watching a volcano, ready to erupt, while trying hard to hold the one inside me, for some more time.

I wish we have a mechanism in the meeting rooms where a person’s vocal chords mute after the allocated time and all participants are ejected out of their chairs as soon as the meeting time lapses.

I love how Dilbert portrays it –

"Do you have a list of invitees for the debriefing meeting? I like to blame people who won't be in the room?"
- Wally

The Boss : "Can you come to a meeting right now."
Dilbert : "No, it's almost lunch time. If I miss lunch my day will be 12 hours of uninterrupted misery."


Dogbert : "I just had a good meeting."
Dilbert :"Maybe it just didn't last long enough to reveal the incompetence of the attendees."
Dogbert : "That's what I call a good meeting."