Meetings can be a great way to kill time during the work day. I know meetings are supposed to be productive, but let’s face it, for a lot of us, we see it an opportunity for a break. Yes, there’s a purpose and a benefit to the meeting, but it’s nice to get a break from the daily routine. Groups, of course, typically drive meetings. In many meetings, there are groups and sub-groups. Ideally, all groups work together, but this rarely seems the case. The worse is when the sub groups of the group break off because they are unhappy with the decision of the group, so then the group becomes even less productive.
One could improve their work life by taking meeting seriously and making an active effort to participate and contribute where you can at meetings. Ask intelligent questions, mirror back statements to clarify the message to make sure you’ve got the gist of concepts discussed at the meeting. Also, if you are part of group, try to work well within the group. Show you are a team player. Personally, meetings can be beneficial for working out family issues, or getting friends together to catch up. Groups can be good and bad on a personal level. Some groups are very positive and inclusive. It’s bad though when groups exclude others.
Seeks groups that build you up in a positive manner. Seek groups that reflect who you are – if you’re into animals, seek a group that helps out for animal rights and be part of a volunteer group at a shelter. When you go to meetings, have a positive attitude there as well and try to get something meaningful out of the experience. Try to present yourself well in meetings by participating.
This RichardStep Marketing survey was designed to get a better understanding of what really gets under the skin of those folks out there dealing with meetings & groups. Read over the awesome answers below and see how you can tailor your business to address the frustrations of the people most relevant to your business niche market. Want more? Read the 125 other topics in the ‘Frustrations’ survey category by clicking here.
The following list are uncut and raw responses of the things this group found most frustrating in their daily lives.
Meetings & Groups
- Meeting with new people and not knowing how to do small talk
- Meeting new people is hard to do and making small talk is frustrating. I get nervous and shut down.
- Meeting in group and nothing after the meeting was accomplished. The members of the group were in there own separate worlds
- Meeting my dentist.I was actually scared to meet him as i went a month late for my braces tightening.Anyways,the meeting went good.
- Meeting new people is very hard for me. i had to learn to be very open and friendly to all different types of people.
- Meeting deadlines at work that were not clearly laid out for me. Trying to keep up with everything on my plate, and feeling under-appreciated and apprehensive about my job security.
- Meeting my boyfriend’s colleagues. It was frustrating because I wanted to have lunch with just my boyfriend and I, I didn’t want to have issues involving my social anxiety pop up and they did.
- I was meeting some friends at the train station, but they were late ruining the plans
- Sit in meetings all day and this was not productive. Meetings need to have purpose and move towards a result.
- I had a meeting with fellow members of an organization and the communication was lacking. Several members were late as well.
- I had a meeting where we outlined templates I had to produce for marketing deliverable which I knew would be completely redesigned anyway.
- Attend a meeting. Because I have a ton of work to do.
- Sit in a meeting several times this week…boring, nothing is accomplished. Same stuff said over and over again.
- Attend a meeting where the other person was not prepared. This stopped me from being able to do my job properly.
- I went to meeting, but it was different as I expected it will be.
- Going to a meeting to hear blablabla, nothing new and nothing constructive
- Scheduling meetings to work on projects as everyone has a different schedule
- Schedule a meeting with someone who is not available to meet right now. This is frustrating because I need to complete this before moving on.
- Being in a meeting with my business partner and a potential client where we all had different views and opinions. I wasn’t jet certain about the right way to go and thought that they were to quick the jump to conclusions.
- At a group meeting yesterday, first session, so the agenda was very loose. And one person kept bringing the conversation back to her personal story. It distracted the group from really getting to know other person. Other people likely had a lot to contribute but where not given the opportunity.
- Group work. meeting up, the travel time, the amount of time invested.
- Gather for a meeting that I felt wasn’t necessary and a waste of time. People that called the meeting disregarded that the basic job function of this group was not to make decisions on this topic. But the meeting was called anyway, I was required to attend.
- Sit through a meeting when you know the speaker is lying about the subject.
- Attending pre-meetings for new project. Frustrating because not sure there was any clear action or new decisions.
- Sit through a meeting that did not have an agenda. It was unproductive because there was no clear plan so we accomplished very little.
- Strata council meeting. having a member arrive 45 minutes late and begin questioning items already addressed and / or not on the agenda. this is frustrating because we waste time reviewing or explaining what we already talked about
- I sat through a meeting today where one or two people spoke over everyone else. I find this very rude.
- Having to attend meetings with people who constantly blow their own horn. It’s frustrating because it’s undermining my intelligence.
- Present at a board meeting. Had to try to sell a perfect idea, that should not have had any resistance.
- I’ve had to attend meetings to prepare for a presentation and I’m in charge, so if it doesn’t go well, the blame is on me.
- I had to arrange a meeting with some project stakeholders to get clarity on who was doing what as the project was in danger of not being completed. This was frustrating as the job roles had been made clear at the beginning of the project.
- Sitting through a long meeting. people weren’t making decisions quick enough.
- Attend a confusing project meeting at work, where high pressure and contradicting instructions were causing visible tension among the team members
- I had to sit through a long meeting that was not useful to me. there was lack of understanding and participants did not pay attention to each other.
- Book 121s with staff, arrange meetings. Finding times that suited everyone
- I had to go to a boring staff meeting that didn’t benefit me.
- Set up a presentation for our our meeting with a potential partner.
- Tidying up the house; having to be in a meeting with senior colleagues,. I get frustrated when i see how huge the task of cleaning and arranging the house is. I get nervous when in a meeting with senior colleagues especially when asked to speak.
- Trying to get hold of people to arrange a meeting but cant
- Finding the time to get an assignment done while meeting other expectations of me.
- I’ve had to interrupt my creative work flow because of meetings scheduled throughout the day. I like to have larger blocks of uninterrupted creative time. I can’t get into a rhythm in a short period of time or if I feel rushed.
- The most frustrating this I have had to do in the past not meeting the deadlines or procrastinating
- I have to start spring football as of today. This includes meetings, workouts, and practice itself. I also am a full time student. It all adds up at the end!
- Convincing members for everything coming in our projects and meeting everyone’s expectations.
- Have to work with stupid PM who do not include me in important meeting but expect me to know what she know
- I had to deal with a colleague who interrupted me continually in a meeting.
- Trying to balance and prioritise tasks and requests, attend all the meeting’s required
- I had million things to do at work from files to calls to arranging meetings at the same time I had to pick my mom who was visiting. Hence I was in over my head and was frustrated with the amount of tasks that I had and could not finsih
- Working with people who act as if everything’s fine and dandy during meetings, then confront me later on in emails
- Listening to people complain about an irrelevant issue during a team meeting. It was a waste of time, brought people emotionally down, took away focus from what mattered. It also showed a lack of grace and understanding on the part of those complaining.
- Work with someone that is negative all of the time and work through the meeting.
- Looking for a new job, anxiety when it comes to seeing qualifications and not meeting them.
- Frustrating thing I had to do was figure out the details of the mortgage, and meeting deadlines for these meetings. Have not experienced this before.
- I don’t have a job but on my previous jobs I hate doing presentations and talk in public through meetings or business reviews.
- I have had to put up with 5 bosses that pull me different ways and have their own tasks while I have meetings to attend myself. Its frustrating when you try to accomplish your tasks and more of them constantly get piled on.
- I had to mop with my dog’s pee because she is really sick. It was frustrating because I was late for a meeting, but I still love her.
- I get frustrated when i have to change my plans to accommodate someones failure to plan properly. also to be in a meeting where it seems to be a waste of time,. as nothing is accomplished
- Burocracy. I find it frustrating to fill out paperwork that seems to have little point or value. The same can be said for meetings that happen for the sake of meetings.
- Work with people that aren’t proactive. We met a month ago regarding issues at work, and made a plan to resolve everything. When we held a followup meeting this week, nothing discussed in our plans had been carried out.
- I arrived the required 15 minutes early to my externship, as required and nobody else showed up til half past the hour. Nobody told me not to come in until later due to a meeting so i waited in the parking lot and it was cold.
- Most frustrating thing at home- to clean when I can do something else. I can do something more proactive. Most frustrating things at work- People not following up to their meetings. There are deadlines that needs to be met.