What is valued is presence and contributions. That doesn't necessarily require attention for the entire meeting. I'm not going to live forever so I would rather expend that wasted 80% on something that I value. The outcome of the meeting is always the same!
I've asked my coworkers to cancel a biweekly meeting that in my mind creates no value. That meeting still lives on, so I don't feel guilty about reading news or clipping my nails while it happens.
I think they decided to end the conversation there and then when I suggested axing the meeting, so I didn't bother. I just show up every two weeks muted and get noted as an attendee on some pointless meeting document. No skin off my back since I don't own equity.
Not GP, but I once asked my engineering colleagues if I was the only one who doesn't pay attention in the bi-weekly all-hands because most of the information is irrelevant to me (e.g. what new marketing strategies we're using). Some admitted that they would do some work on the side, but some also said "well, those people also want to have a chance to share what they did".
I found this remark puzzling and illuminating at the same time. Apparently, for some people, meetings aren't about productivity but about satisfying psychological needs.
Unlikely. I don't create meetings. I get invited to them. They are mostly unnecessary and have a net negative return of investment. I mean lucky if any of them have an agenda, minutes or an action and rarely does the facilitator actually have any conceptual knowledge of the subject. The meeting exists to service the facilitator's personal value and the naïve process model, not the business, the staff or the customers.
Just stop attending then and do actual work and raise it up with whoever you report to. You are just as guilty for blindly accepting this behavior and then fucking around. Either do your job or do something else.
