Someone panics.

A meeting appears on your calendar. No agenda. No context. Often late in the day, which is always a gift.

The chance that the right people are on the call is roughly the same as winning the lottery.

The organizer spends the first part of the meeting mind-mapping in real time as attendees silently wonder why this wasn’t done before the meeting.

The meeting is quiet except for the organizer’s monotonous drone as attendees furiously multitask.

The conversation flows like a pinball machine. Everyone prays for the organizer to get to the point, or at least coast to a stop.

The only decision is that another meeting is needed. The one that should have been scheduled in the first place.

If the cost of lost time, money, and productivity could be calculated, these meetings would be treated like stealing from the company.

The challenge is when the theft isn’t recognized for what it is. Slightly more demoralizing when it comes from the corner offices.