Would you please set up a meeting? 2

[ivymike]

Maybe this is more of a rant than a question... but I'm sure there must be a few out there who can relate.

Boss got cc'd on an email last week, along with various other managers, talking about some voice-of-customer (VOC) questions that need to be answered to help make decisions on a particular project. Boss forwards the email to me and asks me to set up a meeting with key people to talk about what we're doing to answer the questions.

I set up the meeting, using the following as the meeting description:

Objective: Identify outstanding VOC items and plan to obtain info
Known items:
- item 1
- item 2
..etc

We had the meeting today, first ten minutes were spent by my boss criticizing me in front of the group. He didn't like the format of the meeting invitation, because it wasn't clear. He wanted to know what my objective was in holding the meeting, what the purpose of the meeting was, and what I thought the answers should be for each of the listed items. He also wanted to see the items listed in a question/answer format instead of a bulleted list.

wtf?

 

[SomptingGuy]

Stealing from another thread, this all sounds like "OEM Experience".

- Steve

 

[ivymike]

hahah... sure does, doesn't it? Like living on a different planet sometimes. I can't even begin to describe to my neighbors what goes on in my daily work - about the time I mention my third dotted-line reporting relationship, I notice that they're off talking to someone else.

I just sent an email this morning on LinkedIn which reminded me of this thread. To quote: 'Thanks for keeping me in mind, and sorry for not getting back to you sooner. The position described below sounds like a fun one, but my current salary is 44% higher than the "up to" figure shown. If my employment circumstances were to change, I could certainly survive on that level of income, but at present I don't find it tempting.'

 

[SomptingGuy]

I'm on the other side of that divide. I've just witnessed a colleague of mine deciding to take the OEM pay rise and leave behind the diverse engineering life he's been enjoying for the last few years. Even working for a Tier 1 is dull (in my view).

- Steve

 

[TheTick]

"Would you please meet for a set up?"

 

[SWmechE]

"So the meeting wasn't to discuss, understand and possibly solve problems, it was to announce pre-thought solutions." Aren't the vast majority of meetings to announe pre-thought solutions? I hate going into ones were I don't at least have an inkling of what I want the answers to be.

As for the OP your boss definately sounds like an ahole, hopeflly you didn't bite righ through your tongue trying not to reply that you set ths meeting up because he didn't know how to or was too lazy.

 

[KENAT]

Well, your boss sounds like a French shower, however...

Sometimes (less frequently lately) when I'm asked to hold a meeting that I want to go a certain way I'll do what the boss berated you for not doing.

That is basically have my plan or whatever and rather than generally asking for input essentially just persuade everyone to buy in.

Of course, if you actually want input from the people at the meeting rather than just getting a tick in the box in 'communication skills' or 'getting buy in from team members' categories, then the approach you took is more correct.

Next meeting, do exactly what your boss berated you for not doing, then see what aspect he finds to pick holes in this time.

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