Office meetings can frequently push our patience to the limit, with numerous irritating moments that seem to happen every time. Whether it’s unnecessary interruptions or prolonged discussions, these situations can be truly exasperating. In this article, we’ll outline 17 common annoyances that regularly occur during office meetings and test our patience.
Someone Has a Cold
Figures from New Scientist show that “a sneeze travels about 8 metres depending on conditions including temperature and humidity.” Yes, it’s easy to catch a cold when you’re in a room with someone who is sick. This happens a lot when someone has a cold and attends a work meeting, which is usually held in a small room with poor ventilation.
Running Overtime
When an office meeting is supposed to last no longer than 10 minutes, you’re watching the clock. We all hate it when meetings run overtime. Time is so valuable at work, and when you have lots of things to do, you hate wasting time in long meetings.
People Arriving Late
Office meetings are quite frustrating because they take up a lot of our time. But one of the things that really gets to us is when people turn up late to a meeting. These people show that they think their time is more valuable than everyone else’s.
Unrealistic Goals
Statistics from the AIS show that “83% of workers suffer from work-related stress, with 25% saying their job is the number one stressor in their lives.” A lot of that stress is caused by unrealistic goals that are set by employers for their employees during work meetings.
The Meeting Begins Late
When you’re told you’ll be having a meeting at 10 a.m., the last thing you want to happen is to arrive at 10 and the meeting starts late. You’re sitting around wasting time, waiting for people to arrive when you could be getting on with your work.
The Internet Fails
Every good work meeting uses the internet for some portion of the meeting. This is great until the signal goes and you’re left watching a buffering page. It feels like it takes an eternity for the connection to come back when you’re thinking of all the other things you could be doing.
Phone Call Interruptions
There’s nothing more frustrating than having to sit and wait for the person who’s conducting the meeting to finish an “important” or “emergency” phone call. When the phone call drags on for a long time, it feels even more infuriating and wastes everyone’s productive work time.
Smartphone Alerts
Meetings are best when everyone can listen to them without any distractions. When a phone rings or someone gets a noisy notification, it throws the concentration off. More often than not, the person speaking during the meeting gets distracted and starts repeating themselves. This wastes time.
Re-Answering Questions
“Having too many meetings in your schedule can mean that you don’t have sufficient time left in a day or week to work on or complete your tasks,” says Indeed. A lot of time is wasted in meetings when people don’t listen and end up asking questions about subjects that were already covered.
Physical Interruptions
Have you ever been sitting in an office meeting only to have it interrupted by a secretary just a couple of minutes in? Then the whole room is distracted and it takes minutes for the meeting to start up again. When we have a busy schedule, we hate it when meetings are interrupted.
Off-Topic Conversations
Our time at work is valuable and we have lots to do. That’s why we hate it when office meetings are delayed by off-topic conversations. Chit-chat is nice, but not when you’ve got 101 things to do. You’d rather only talk about work and get out of the meeting quickly.
Covering Pointless Information
Have you ever been in an office meeting that felt completely pointless? You didn’t learn anything new; rather, you had to sit and listen to a repeat of the information that you’ve already heard dozens of times. These kinds of meetings are some of the most frustrating.
Running into Lunch
If there’s anything that we hate more than when a meeting runs overtime, it’s when a meeting runs into lunchtime. Lunchtime is your time, and it shouldn’t be touched. The second a meeting begins to run into lunch, all you can think about is food and how long the meeting has run over.
Pressure
Believe it or not, workplace stress leads to death every year around the world due to the high blood pressure that it causes. What adds to that stress is the fact that many employers use weekly meetings to put more pressure on their employees to work harder and make more money without offering them much in return.
Someone Not Showing Up
Another painstaking part about office meetings is when you’re waiting for a coworker to attend the meeting and they never show up. Waiting and waiting for someone is so frustrating and when you finally realize they’re not coming, you feel angry about all the wasted time.
A Colleague Talks Too Much
We all have that one coworker who talks too much, and when you get them in a meeting, they never stop. They have opinions about everything and an anecdote for every corner of the office. You can feel time running away from you as they talk.
Overenthusiastic People
Office meetings are a means to an end and you’re looking forward to them finishing so you can get back to work. But there’s always one overenthusiastic person who makes the meeting drag on and who gives new ideas to your boss that will make you have to work harder.