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So, what do you do when you get to a meeting first?


MoseySusan

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So, I show up, but the person I’m supposed to meet isn’t there. I sit down and start preparing. I wait 30 minutes, knowing that stuff comes up for teachers. 

Then I leave. But when I opened my email, she had sent a message three minutes after we were supposed to have met that I wasn’t there, so she left and wants to reschedule. 

?

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9 minutes ago, roadsue said:

So, I show up, but the person I’m supposed to meet isn’t there. I sit down and start preparing. I wait 30 minutes, knowing that stuff comes up for teachers. 

Then I leave. But when I opened my email, she had sent a message three minutes after we were supposed to have met that I wasn’t there, so she left and wants to reschedule. 

?

So, you ‘met’ at different places: how odd you Americans are, just when I think I’m starting to get you, this happens ?

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The dreaded safety meetings. Required attendance, three shifts, Daylight shift stayed over after work, midnight shift stayed over after work, afternoon shift had to come to work one hour early for their meeting. If you miss the meeting they give you a point the same as if you missed work. Enough points and you are fired. It’s easy to forget to come in early, it’s hard to forget the meetings after work when you are the only one walking out to the parking lot after work. I tried to get them to have our meetings after work the same as everyone else. They wouldn’t listen to me. The union got involved the company didn’t want to have their safety man come back in to lead a safety meeting at midnight. A compromise was reached where the times of the meeting didn’t change but attendance was not mandatory. That was pretty much the end of the safety meetings. :D

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1 minute ago, Longjohn said:

The dreaded safety meetings. Required attendance, three shifts, Daylight shift stayed over after work, midnight shift stayed over after work, afternoon shift had to come to work one hour early for their meeting. If you miss the meeting they give you a point the same as if you missed work. Enough points and you are fired. It’s easy to forget to come in early, it’s hard to forget the meetings after work when you are the only one walking out to the parking lot after work. I tried to get them to have our meetings after work the same as everyone else. They wouldn’t listen to me. The union got involved the company didn’t want to have their safety man come back in to lead a safety meeting at midnight. A compromise was reached where the times of the meeting didn’t change but attendance was not mandatory. That was pretty much the end of the safety meetings. :D

Scents prevailed in t’end ?

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1 hour ago, pedalphile said:

I grab the best biscuits, and the most advantageous seat at the table.

Yep - get the best seat. Then I make sure I'm ready for my piece (if I have one), and then I relax & do some side work or surf the web or snack. 

Tom

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27 minutes ago, roadsue said:

So, I show up, but the person I’m supposed to meet isn’t there. I sit down and start preparing. I wait 30 minutes, knowing that stuff comes up for teachers. 

Then I leave. But when I opened my email, she had sent a message three minutes after we were supposed to have met that I wasn’t there, so she left and wants to reschedule. 

?

So, she is a liar?  That is useful info to have and keep close.

Tom

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Early is on time, on time is late and late is unacceptable.  

I find a good place for a left handed person so sit, and I sit there and get out whatever I need for the meeting.

I would say 10 minutes wait time, then begin reaching out to any one that is supposed to attend but is not there.

If it was just me and another person meeting, I would know from their response to my confirmation call, text or email whether or not to expect them.

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31 minutes ago, roadsue said:

So, I show up, but the person I’m supposed to meet isn’t there. I sit down and start preparing. I wait 30 minutes, knowing that stuff comes up for teachers. 

Then I leave. But when I opened my email, she had sent a message three minutes after we were supposed to have met that I wasn’t there, so she left and wants to reschedule. 

?

That's some passive aggressive and self righteous behavior there. Stuff happens, gets in the way. Three minutes? That's cold. 

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10 minutes ago, jsharr said:

Early is on time, on time is late and late is unacceptable.  

I find a good place for a left handed person so sit, and I sit there and get out whatever I need for the meeting.

I would say 10 minutes wait time, then begin reaching out to any one that is supposed to attend but is not there.

If it was just me and another person meeting, I would know from their response to my confirmation call, text or email whether or not to expect them.

This almost to a tee (or is to T, or is it tea)  Anyway, I would start reaching out after about 5 minutes.  Internally here, late is unacceptable.  I have also been known to close and lock the door on occasion (rare occasion).

Oh, and nix the left handed person stuff.

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9 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

This almost to a tee (or is to T, or is it tea)  Anyway, I would start reaching out after about 5 minutes.  Internally here, late is unacceptable.  I have also been known to close and lock the door on occasion (rare occasion).

Oh, and nix the left handed person stuff.

How is early on time? If a meeting is scheduled for 9, 9 is on time. How is locking someone out of a meeting productive? Who wins? Nobody. Passive aggressive just ain't cool. 

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Just now, dennis said:

How is early on time? If a meeting is scheduled for 9, 9 is on time. How is locking someone out of a meeting productive? Who wins? Nobody. Passive aggressive just ain't cool. 

If the meeting starts at 9, do you arrive at 9 or do you arrive early so you are seated and ready to go (or in whatever position the meeting calls for) at the appointed start time?

If your gravel ride starts at 9, when do you arrive?

Early is on time, on time is late and late is unacceptable.  I stand by this.  

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Just now, jsharr said:

If the meeting starts at 9, do you arrive at 9 or do you arrive early so you are seated and ready to go (or in whatever position the meeting calls for) at the appointed start time?

If your gravel ride starts at 9, when do you arrive?

Early is on time, on time is late and late is unacceptable.  I stand by this.  

I arrive at 9. 

Yes, I have been late to races. Watched the start happen without me more than once. Over the course of 100 miles, a minute or two doesn't matter. 

 

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2 minutes ago, dennis said:

I arrive at 9. 

Yes, I have been late to races. Watched the start happen without me more than once. Over the course of 100 miles, a minute or two doesn't matter. 

 

Theater production starts at 9, when do you arrive so you can be seated when the curtain goes up?  

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I've been late, but mostly I am on time. I just don't get all bunched up if someone else is late to a meeting. I know stuff comes up.

I was late to a production of Wicked. The usher made me stand next to him until an appropriate time to take my seat. The world did not end. He gave me some good insight too. I guess I won.

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8 minutes ago, dennis said:

I've been late, but mostly I am on time. I just don't get all bunched up if someone else is late to a meeting. I know stuff comes up.

I was late to a production of Wicked. The usher made me stand next to him until an appropriate time to take my seat. The world did not end. He gave me some good insight too. I guess I won.

I need to learn to relax like you.   when you send out a meeting invite, I bet is says meeting starts around 9:ish or so.

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2 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I need to learn to relax like you.   when you send out a meeting invite, I bet is says meeting starts around 9:ish or so.

Exactly. 9ish or thereabout. If you're really late, bring whisky.

At my last job, I'd take a call at 8:55. If it was important, I stayed on the call until finished. I might show up at the 9:00 meeting late. If the call could wait, I'd cut the caller off and explain that I had a meeting and would call them back afterwards. 

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7 minutes ago, dennis said:

Exactly. 9ish or thereabout. If you're really late, bring whisky.

At my last job, I'd take a call at 8:55. If it was important, I stayed on the call until finished. I might show up at the 9:00 meeting late. If the call could wait, I'd cut the caller off and explain that I had a meeting and would call them back afterwards. 

I probably would not take a call at 8:55 for a 9:00 meeting.  If there was a very good reason - maybe.  At 8:55 I should be on my way to the meeting or already there and have my thought process geared to the meeting.  Here, meetings are important and not intended to be a waste of time.  We have strict rules we follow that include, among other things - meeting start on time, end on time and have an agenda (an agenda that is stuck to).  Offtrack conversations are not permitted (fosters politics).  We also have everyone in the meeting rate the meeting ( 1 to 10) according to how the meeting rules were followed.  This is great feedback to make subsequent meetings better.

Time is valuable for everyone in the meeting (except maybe mine) and that needs to be honored.

And the door locking is passive aggressive and I've only done it a few times for blatant offenders.

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18 minutes ago, dennis said:

Exactly. 9ish or thereabout. If you're really late, bring whisky.

At my last job, I'd take a call at 8:55. If it was important, I stayed on the call until finished. I might show up at the 9:00 meeting late. If the call could wait, I'd cut the caller off and explain that I had a meeting and would call them back afterwards. 

 

3 minutes ago, Always Wong said:

I probably would not take a call at 8:55 for a 9:00 meeting.  If there was a very good reason - maybe.  At 8:55 I should be on my way to the meeting or already there and have my thought process geared to the meeting.  Here, meetings are important and not intended to be a waste of time.  We have strict rules we follow that include, among other things - meeting start on time, end on time and have an agenda (an agenda that is stuck to).  Offtrack conversations are not permitted (fosters politics).  We also have everyone in the meeting rate the meeting ( 1 to 10) according to how the meeting rules were followed.  This is great feedback to make subsequent meetings better.

Time is valuable for everyone in the meeting (except maybe mine) and that needs to be honored.

And the door locking is passive aggressive and I've only done it a few times for blatant offenders.

I think the two of you need to schedule a meeting.

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5 minutes ago, Always Wong said:

I probably would not take a call at 8:55 for a 9:00 meeting.  If there was a very good reason - maybe.  At 8:55 I should be on my way to the meeting or already there and have my thought process geared to the meeting.  Here, meetings are important and not intended to be a waste of time.  We have strict rules we follow that include, among other things - meeting start on time, end on time and have an agenda (an agenda that is stuck to).  Offtrack conversations are not permitted (fosters politics).  We also have everyone in the meeting rate the meeting ( 1 to 10) according to how the meeting rules were followed.  This is great feedback to make subsequent meetings better.

Time is valuable for everyone in the meeting (except maybe mine) and that needs to be honored.

And the door locking is passive aggressive and I've only done it a few times for blatant offenders.

Don't you have to unlock to let them out to go to the bathroom?

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6 minutes ago, Always Wong said:

I probably would not take a call at 8:55 for a 9:00 meeting.  If there was a very good reason - maybe.  At 8:55 I should be on my way to the meeting or already there and have my thought process geared to the meeting.  Here, meetings are important and not intended to be a waste of time.  We have strict rules we follow that include, among other things - meeting start on time, end on time and have an agenda (an agenda that is stuck to).  Offtrack conversations are not permitted (fosters politics).  We also have everyone in the meeting rate the meeting ( 1 to 10) according to how the meeting rules were followed.  This is great feedback to make subsequent meetings better.

Time is valuable for everyone in the meeting (except maybe mine) and that needs to be honored.

And the door locking is passive aggressive and I've only done it a few times for blatant offenders.

Aren't you wasting time by showing up early? 

I had to deal with someone that was very hard to reach. If she called at 8:55, I took the call. I dealt with customers. I rated customer service as being very important and took the call. 

There are more important things in life than meetings.

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Meetings at my former company after it was bought by a stockholder corporation.

The corporate vice president for our division would schedule a meeting for his department heads so he could keep abreast of what was going on.

The department heads would then schedule a meeting for their group leaders to find out what was going on.  To take care of any questions they would bring the group leaders to the vice presidents meeting.

The group leaders would schedule a meeting for their project managers to find out what was going on.  To take care of any questions they would bring the project managers to the department head meeting and later to the vice presidents meeting.

The project managers would circulate around to the various scientists and technicians to find out what was going on.  To take care of any questions they would bring the scientists and technicians to the group leaders meeting, the department head meeting and the vice presidents meeting.

When they arrived at the vice presidents meeting they would wake me up when they turned on the lights.

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1 minute ago, maddmaxx said:

Meetings at my former company after it was bought by a stockholder corporation.

The corporate vice president for our division would schedule a meeting for his department heads so he could keep abreast of what was going on.

The department heads would then schedule a meeting for their group leaders to find out what was going on.  To take care of any questions they would bring the group leaders to the vice presidents meeting.

The group leaders would schedule a meeting for their project managers to find out what was going on.  To take care of any questions they would bring the project managers to the department head meeting and later to the vice presidents meeting.

The project managers would circulate around to the various scientists and technicians to find out what was going on.  To take care of any questions they would bring the scientists and technicians to the group leaders meeting, the department head meeting and the vice presidents meeting.

When they arrived at the vice presidents meeting they would wake me up when they turned on the lights.

How long did you serve as corporate vice president?  What did you do if people were late to your meetings?  

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2 hours ago, roadsue said:

So, I show up, but the person I’m supposed to meet isn’t there. I sit down and start preparing. I wait 30 minutes, knowing that stuff comes up for teachers. 

Then I leave. But when I opened my email, she had sent a message three minutes after we were supposed to have met that I wasn’t there, so she left and wants to reschedule. 

?

840667.jpg?v=1499117630...I try to disguise myself at meetings so I'm not expected to contribute anything.

 

But in your situation, I would probably set up one of those wildlife cameras at the site of our next meeting in advance of it. Wildlife camera reviews

 

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2 minutes ago, No One said:

...I had felt this, more or less instinctively, throughout my working life.  

Now, I can say for certain that the most important thing is to put yourself in a position to decline all meetings.

We should be co-workers. Let's schedule a meeting to discuss it. I'll let you decide which one of us should skip it.

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1 hour ago, jsharr said:

Theater production starts at 9, when do you arrive so you can be seated when the curtain goes up?  

9:00.  The curtain is often delayed and my time is valuable.  If the curtain rises at exactly 9:00, the I incredulously ask the usher if they know who I am and demand the delay the start of the performance until I am seated. 

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4 minutes ago, Mr. Silly said:

9:00.  The curtain is often delayed and my time is valuable.  If the curtain rises at exactly 9:00, the I incredulously ask the usher if they know who I am and demand the delay the start of the performance until I am seated. 

That is silly!   wait, I am seeing a pattern here. 

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