Staff meetings

[Smallpotatoes]

I sat in a two-hour staff meeting today. It was about how we're now going to be held accountable for putting more stuff on our Web sites more frequently (We're weekly papers and they want the Web sites updated daily), but the subject of the meeting isn't why I started this thread. I've noticed that at most of our meetings, especially the ones when the people running the company stopped by to give a state-of-the-company address (that happened a lot more often under the previous ownership), the meeting would have been a lot shorter if not for all the questions that were asked. In any event. it seemed like many of the questions served no other purpose than to prolong the meeting and to call attention to the person asking the question. Many of them were simply variations of questions that were already asked.
Is there a better way of running these meetings so either fewer questions get asked or they're asked in a way that they're not wasting everyone else's time?

 

[Ace]

I sat in a two-hour staff meeting today. It was about how we're now going to be held accountable for putting more stuff on our Web sites more frequently (We're weekly papers and they want the Web sites updated daily), but the subject of the meeting isn't why I started this thread. I've noticed that at most of our meetings, especially the ones when the people running the company stopped by to give a state-of-the-company address (that happened a lot more often under the previous ownership), the meeting would have been a lot shorter if not for all the questions that were asked. In any event. it seemed like many of the questions served no other purpose than to prolong the meeting and to call attention to the person asking the question. Many of them were simply variations of questions that were already asked.
Is there a better way of running these meetings so either fewer questions get asked or they're asked in a way that they're not wasting everyone else's time?

Unless you are the one running the meeting and are willing to give advice for shorter, peppier meetings to the corporate honchos, I think the point is somewhat moot.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Is there a better way of running these meetings so either fewer questions get asked or they're asked in a way that they're not wasting everyone else's time?

Lots of farting will take care of that.

 

[mediaguy]

You're a weekly. What's the rush to get out of the meeting?

 

[HejiraHenry]

We will have multiple briefing sessions on particular issues, such as insurance, and I have learned to avoid those attended by a husband-and-wife reporting team who are human rain delays with all their questions. None of which tend to be particularly enlightening,

 

[Diabeetus]

You're a weekly. What's the rush to get out of the meeting?

To get back to posting on SportsJournalists.com

But really, who wants to sit through a bunch of stupid ****?

 

[Clerk Typist]

People at your meetings ask questions?

There are only two good questions to ask: 1) Are we making money or losing money (and how much)? 2) Is circulation going up or down? Whether or not people will get fired will be directly related to those answers.

 

[Write-brained]

We will have multiple briefing sessions on particular issues, such as insurance, and I have learned to avoid those attended by a husband-and-wife reporting team who are human rain delays with all their questions. None of which tend to be particularly enlightening,

I've never met this husband and wife reporting duo, yet I have an overwhelming urge to strangle them. Better your paper than mine.

 

[BigSleeper]

Staff meetings suck. A memo usually does the trick just as well.

And yes, there always seems to be the one co-worker, usually the most irrelevant and insecure one, that has to hold up things up by at least a half hour with insipid questions. We used to have a librarian who would do that. Everything the paper did had to relate to the library. Thankfully, we had an ME who was observant enough to see how annoying her questions were to everyone, that he started closing the meetings by saying "That's it. You all can go why I answer <librarian's> questions." Once she realized she would no longer have an audience, she stopped asking questions.

 

[mdpoppy]

We will have multiple briefing sessions on particular issues, such as insurance, and I have learned to avoid those attended by a husband-and-wife reporting team who are human rain delays with all their questions. None of which tend to be particularly enlightening,

I've never met this husband and wife reporting duo, yet I have an overwhelming urge to strangle them. Better your paper than mine.

It's even worse when that husband and wife reporting duo also double as teachers at the local University's J-School.

 

[HejiraHenry]

We will have multiple briefing sessions on particular issues, such as insurance, and I have learned to avoid those attended by a husband-and-wife reporting team who are human rain delays with all their questions. None of which tend to be particularly enlightening,

I've never met this husband and wife reporting duo, yet I have an overwhelming urge to strangle them. Better your paper than mine.

They are both also (in)famous on their side of the room – thankfully, far away from my desk – for their bouts of unrestrained flatulence.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

The grand poobahs of our corporate parent travel to all the various properties once a year to give a "State of the Company" speech. And every year, the same group of people double the length of the meeting with their stupid damn question.

One guy, every single year, asks if there's going to be a stock split. And the CEO always says the same thing - "It really doesn't matter; I mean, would you rather have a dime or two nickels?"

 

[Write-brained]

We will have multiple briefing sessions on particular issues, such as insurance, and I have learned to avoid those attended by a husband-and-wife reporting team who are human rain delays with all their questions. None of which tend to be particularly enlightening,

I've never met this husband and wife reporting duo, yet I have an overwhelming urge to strangle them. Better your paper than mine.

They are both also (in)famous on their side of the room – thankfully, far away from my desk – for their bouts of unrestrained flatulence.

Holy ****. It gets worse.

Next you're going to tell me they're vegans with matching bluetooths.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

I've had this same problem with my current employer. We have one person who has to ask 70 freaking questions. Understanding that clarification sometimes helps, she's bordering on a human rain delay.

Nice people, though. In that respect, it doesn't make me as sad to forget this isn't a newsroom.

 

[zebracoy]

People at your meetings ask questions?

There are only two good questions to ask: 1) Are we making money or losing money (and how much)? 2) Is circulation going up or down? Whether or not people will get fired will be directly related to those answers.

I'm happy you get to ask those questions. I would, but I know what the answers are.

 

[MacDaddy]

We have one guy who asks questions that apply only to him, and another guy who asks questions that no one but him understands. We also have one manager who calls meetings where people ask questions that elicit answers that completely undermine his points, which is actually quite amusing.

 

[Billy Monday]

I sat in a two-hour staff meeting today. It was about how we're now going to be held accountable for putting more stuff on our Web sites more frequently (We're weekly papers and they want the Web sites updated daily), but the subject of the meeting isn't why I started this thread. I've noticed that at most of our meetings, especially the ones when the people running the company stopped by to give a state-of-the-company address (that happened a lot more often under the previous ownership), the meeting would have been a lot shorter if not for all the questions that were asked. In any event. it seemed like many of the questions served no other purpose than to prolong the meeting and to call attention to the person asking the question. Many of them were simply variations of questions that were already asked.
Is there a better way of running these meetings so either fewer questions get asked or they're asked in a way that they're not wasting everyone else's time?

This description sounds like the typical staff meeting. Some people in there like to prolong the meeting because it takes them away from actual work. These same people think that asking lots of questions will impress the editor or head honcho. It doesn't.

 

[forever_town]

We used to have management meetings which usually consisted of nothing more than the publisher pontificating or complaining or bitching someone out.

The funniest moment about all of that was the time the CEO (his wife) looked at me and we rolled our eyes at him.

 

[JR]

I worked at Harper Collins for a number of years and the Prez was meeting happy.

We once had a meeting to discuss our upcoming meeting schedule.

 

[lono]

We will have multiple briefing sessions on particular issues, such as insurance, and I have learned to avoid those attended by a husband-and-wife reporting team who are human rain delays with all their questions. None of which tend to be particularly enlightening,

I've never met this husband and wife reporting duo, yet I have an overwhelming urge to strangle them. Better your paper than mine.

They are both also (in)famous on their side of the room – thankfully, far away from my desk – for their bouts of unrestrained flatulence.

Holy ****. It gets worse.

Next you're going to tell me they're vegans with matching bluetooths.