Meetings

I remember when I started my first “real” job (U.S. Foodservice) nine years ago.  I would always hear about Supervisors and Managers having to go to meetings.  I was always jealous.  I felt like they were insiders getting information that I was not to be trusted with.  At my next job with Marriott I would be a part of occasional meetings and I always looked forward to them.  Finally, I was included in something.  I would make sure to mention occasionally that I couldn’t do something, because I would be in a meeting.  I wouldn’t be arrogant about it and I would only bring it up if it was relevant, but I enjoyed it.  The longer the meeting was, the more important I felt.  The meetings were not about anything important; more of weekly seminars about the programs we were using.  

The position at my last job (Metropolitan) I was sure I would be included in the weekly management meetings and my boss told me he wanted me there.  Whenever it was time for him to go to the meeting he would leave me behind.  I think part of the reason was because he was getting chewed-out in the meetings.  After six months of working there (and my boss being replaced), I was finally invited to start attending weekly meetings in which I was actually included on what was going on.  It felt so good to be included and to know that on a small scale my ideas would have an influence on the company.

With my new position I have been here for just over three months and I am sick of meetings.  I have about 5 to 6 meetings throughout the week.  The Managers meeting is the least painful only lasting about 30 to 45 minutes.  The meetings I head-up are by far the worst for me.  They go on for 2 hours.  I dread them.  As I write this I know it sounds like I need to lead better meetings.  This is probably true in some aspects.  Part of the problem is that almost everyone in the meeting is higher on the organization chart than me.  It’s hard to tell someone in the position that they are they are spending too much time dissecting a topic that isn’t important.  The meetings consist of both presenting the Managers with the work I am doing as well as getting feedback from everyone.  The presentation lasts 15 minutes and the feedback lasts 2 hours.

It’s no longer about how many days it is until the weekend, now it’s a count down of meetings.  Today I have two meetings and one more tomorrow.  Then the weekend starts…