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This is why weekly team meetings are stupid

D

DisgruntledVirus

Lifer
We spent 1/2 the scheduled time doing "team building exercises". Most of that was taken up by the game you play in school as a kid where you say a word that starts with a letter of the alphabet and go in order saying the words prior to yours.

Awesome
Berries
Crane
Dog
Elephant
Fluffy
etc....

How the fuck does that "build" our team? Waste of time, and a 2nd grade level exercise.
 
Originally posted by: OUCaptain
Originally posted by: TallBill
So you got paid to play 2nd grade games, and you're complaining?
Click to expand...

That's the logic that came to mind.
Click to expand...

Because I'm not here to play second grade games.

If I wanted to play second grade games, I would be a 2nd grade teacher.

I'm all for doing fun team building stuff, as long as it's on our level. Sorry dumbing myself down to 2nd gr level is not enjoyable for me. I would have rather been at my desk neffing on ATOT....
 
Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus


Because I'm not here to play second grade games.

If I wanted to play second grade games, I would be a 2nd grade teacher.

I'm all for doing fun team building stuff, as long as it's on our level. Sorry dumbing myself down to 2nd gr level is not enjoyable for me. I would have rather been at my desk neffing on ATOT....
Click to expand...

So you would rather dumb yourself down to a first grade level?
 
Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
Originally posted by: OUCaptain
Originally posted by: TallBill
So you got paid to play 2nd grade games, and you're complaining?
Click to expand...

That's the logic that came to mind.
Click to expand...

Because I'm not here to play second grade games.

If I wanted to play second grade games, I would be a 2nd grade teacher.

I'm all for doing fun team building stuff, as long as it's on our level. Sorry dumbing myself down to 2nd gr level is not enjoyable for me. I would have rather been at my desk neffing on ATOT....
Click to expand...

Can I get your bosses email so I can keep you busier in the future then? 🙂
 
Originally posted by: rudeguy
Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus


Because I'm not here to play second grade games.

If I wanted to play second grade games, I would be a 2nd grade teacher.

I'm all for doing fun team building stuff, as long as it's on our level. Sorry dumbing myself down to 2nd gr level is not enjoyable for me. I would have rather been at my desk neffing on ATOT....
Click to expand...

So you would rather dumb yourself down to a first grade level?
Click to expand...

Yes, because at least the first grade level here is funny 😉

Originally posted by: TallBill

Can I get your bosses email so I can keep you busier in the future then? 🙂
Click to expand...

Yeah it's moderator@anandtech.com
 
I have a meeting every Monday with my direct reports for status updates and to plan the week. Sounds like you work in a nursery school.
 
Originally posted by: TallBill
Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
Originally posted by: TallBill
Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus

Yeah it's moderator@anandtech.com
Click to expand...

Your 2nd grade meetings are clearly working 🙂 Shouldn't you be taking a snack break right now or something?
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Actually I am eating cookies relaxing till quitting time 😉
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Did a stranger give them to you? Btw, your job sounds great.
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No, a coworker did. They were pretty good too. Time to go put my bookbag in my car, then return to my desk to logout and go home.
 
Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus

No, a coworker did. They were pretty good too. Time to go put my bookbag in my car, then return to my desk to logout and go home.
Click to expand...

Will you have to take a conference call and sing "The wheels on the bus..." on the way home with your co-workers? :laugh:
 
Weekly team meetings (at least) are essential. Silly games are not.

We have daily team meetings, but we're not trying to bond like children. We have a standing meeting for everyone to communicate what they're working on, what hurdles they have and what they're working on tomorrow (similar to SCRUM).
 
Originally posted by: Descartes
Weekly team meetings (at least) are essential. Silly games are not.

We have daily team meetings, but we're not trying to bond like children. We have a standing meeting for everyone to communicate what they're working on, what hurdles they have and what they're working on tomorrow (similar to SCRUM).
Click to expand...

Some places those work, others they don't. I do weekly meetings and just depend on email to communicate with my department the rest of the week.

Our marketing department tried the stand up meeting approach and at the peak they had two 45 minute stand up meetings per day with 10 to 15 people hanging around bored. They didn't quite understand the concept of a quick status meeting.

It probably has to do with the fact that we're IT - logical, and result driven - while marketing is invariably made up of people who couldn't get real jobs. 😉
 
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: Descartes
Weekly team meetings (at least) are essential. Silly games are not.

We have daily team meetings, but we're not trying to bond like children. We have a standing meeting for everyone to communicate what they're working on, what hurdles they have and what they're working on tomorrow (similar to SCRUM).
Click to expand...

Some places those work, others they don't. I do weekly meetings and just depend on email to communicate with my department the rest of the week.
Click to expand...

No doubt. It doesn't work for everyone for sure. If we have a high caliber team, we can give them more individual responsibility. We have some engagements where the entire team will be off in the weeds in less than two days if we don't keep them on target. It's almost fun to see where their mind took them, like an intellectual telephone game if you get my meaning.

Our marketing department tried the stand up meeting approach and at the peak they had two 45 minute stand up meetings per day with 10 to 15 people hanging around bored. They didn't quite understand the concept of a quick status meeting.
Click to expand...

That's always the problem it seems. I actually timebox responses and tell people they have 10 minutes to make a decision. Nothing is worse than sitting there spinning your wheels going over every single possible solution to a problem; identify the problem, identify the possible solutions and pick a direction. Failing that, take it out of the meeting and come back with a direction after more research.

Getting people involved in the meeting is part of the difficulty as well. I find that singling people out often helps. Most people want the opportunity to talk, but not if it's a free-for-all and a few people keep standing on the soap box. I go around the group and say, "BobberFett, yes/no?"

imo

It probably has to do with the fact that we're IT - logical, and result driven - while marketing is invariably made up of people who couldn't get real jobs. 😉
Click to expand...

lol. I gave up on trying to get concrete responses from marketing folks. I have met my fair share of IT people that love analysis-paralysis though. Every response is met with "Well...." 🙂

:thumbsup:
 
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