Like diseases of the gut, meetings have a strangely limited appeal - unless you are a project manager or an operations director. No one is precisely sure what it is these people do, but their entire working life seems to revolve around their appointment diary and an endless festival of flip charts, presentations, pie charts and handouts. This is where people get dragged into meetings purely because of their availability regardless of whether they are needed or not. If you are called to one, you'd be wise to suspect trouble. You can gauge the depths of misery into which you are about to be plunged by sneaking a peek at the agenda to see how many times 'smile warmly' is listed.
Middle management meeting Middle managers call meetings to demonstrate their efficiency and energy.
Their meetings are characterised by a dimming of the lights, to allow the overhead projector to shine more brightly. For you, their meetings are characterised by the welcome opportunity to catch up on some sleep. Middle managers are the chemistry teachers of working life. Brainstorming sessions Where everybody gets together and talks over the top of everyone else - and then pinches each others' ideas. Board meetings Where all the big decisions are made.