Around 12:30 today I went to speak to my team leader. “Team Leader,” I asked, “can we cancel today’s weekly update meeting? I don’t have much to update you on and I could really use the time to make progress against my (constantly growing) workplan.”
“Sorry,” he says. He’d really like to catch up.
“Fine.”
2 1/2 hours later, the meeting starts.
Says he, “so, how did that quick-cut analysis go?”
“It confirmed our suspicions,” I replied. And it took about 3-times longer than bossman had estimated. It also proved me right that it was a waste of my time because we already knew the answer and we already knew that we’d proceed regardless of the outcome. “We really shouldn’t spend any more time on it.”
“Ok, that’s good. Do you think you could send me the raw data so I can take a look?”
Fortunately, “I cannot.”
More time passes… Yada yada yada.
Says he, “I sent you an email regarding that conference.”
“Really?” I thought, “you refused to cancel a meeting where 1/3 of it consists of you telling me that you sent me an email.”
A couple more minutes pass and we get to the conclusion. “Well,” team leader adds, “don’t worry about bossman’s latest request, I think your priority should be on your current work plan.”
“Really?” I thought again, “you insisted on having a meeting so that you could tell me to use my time to work on things already assigned? Thanks a fucking lot!”
