Average day at Q: eight hours of meetings where people share wrong or incomplete information. Chased by 6 hours in the lab trying to get actual work done in spite of endless IMs from half way around the world. It was a top ranked concern on a recent climate survey. After execs sent out suggestions for reducing meetings, they actually increased!
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OP - well put. Let's stay the problems with data and not put any blame on anyone. Let the history to judge and learn from it.
I think the fundamental problem is management. It starts at the project lead level where someone at either senior staff or principal level who does little or no actual work pulls all the project staff into a room to find out what they're doing. This is done so he/she has something to show to the director to justify his/her role of status collector.
Then the director calls either the whole team or multiple team members into a meeting to push the process improvement or productivity enhancement of the moment so he/she can justify their role.
Then it's the meeting with remote staff located in a lower-paid region offset by at least 8 hours from San Diego. This is required because the VPs and higher are pushing for cost (i.e. salary) reduction.
Management would be more effective if they just acknowledged their role as disciplinary drivers who use carrots (raises, bonuses, promos) and sticks (PIPs, lay-offs) to drive the workers like dogs and stay busy with h--kers and blow instead of meddling in the details of the real work.