Why Our Brains Hate Long Business Meetings

One of the most common complaints about office life is the requirement to attend meetings. Usually long and boring ones. Many office workers dread having to endure a seemingly endless series of dull meetings. But have you ever taken time to think about exactly what it is about these meetings that drive us crazy?

This article looks at ten of the top things our minds hate about typical business meetings. Not surprisingly, the idea that the meeting is (for the most part) a waste of time is at the top of the list. Workers have become frustrated with spending time at meetings where most of the ideas discussed will never actually happen. Along the same lines, most employees feel meetings are much longer than necessary, probably because the agendas are often bloated with minor or unimportant issues.

These and other factors lead to boredom and exhaustion on the part of workers, which in turn makes it even less likely that anything productive will come out of the meeting.

Also on the list of most disliked business meeting staples? PowerPoint presentations. Especially those in which the presenter apparently seemed determined to squeeze as much tiny print as possible onto every slide.

If you are responsible for organizing or assistant with a business meeting, you should do everything in your power to avoid these business meeting offenses. Ideally, you should keep your meeting short and sweet, and focus on important issues your staff will care about.

What do you hate most about business meetings? Share in the comments.

Image courtesy of Thinkstock/iStockPhoto