Most meetings are a waste of time because they are unproductive. I have sat in meetings and heard all kinds of conversation, none of which pertain to the topic on hand. I have the unique perspective to have been a participant in many productive meetings. Most of the time meetings become the a waste of time when the participants are unprepared, the topic is not relevant, and the meeting leader just simply loses control.
Don't get me wrong, I find meetings a useful tool in communicating with project team members and stakeholders. I also find that many meetings spiral out of control because the participants are unprepared. A good practice is for the meeting leader to send out an agenda with the topics of the meeting so that participants can get there thoughts together before the meeting. Nothing stops a project meeting like having to explain the purpose of the project to someone again. Apparently this person didn't read the agenda or even the read-ahead materials.
Meeting are sometimes held because they have always been held. The topic is not relevant to the participants and the conversation starts to wonder to sports scores or weekend plan. My take is that there should not have been a meeting on the topic and if there was maybe less people. I believe that this type of meeting waste time, many standing meetings should be evaluated to determine if they are relevant to the participants.
When the meeting leader loses control. It is time to just stop the meeting and regroup. No reason to keep everyone together for an hour, because that is how long the room is reserved. If the meeting leader cannot regain control and steer the meeting to a productive end, then it should be stopped, have the leader regroup and reschedule the meeting for another time.
Meeting should not be a waste of time. They can be productive, but it is imperative that the meeting leader provide participants with material including at least an agenda, make sure the topic is relevant to the group, and maintain some control.
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