I hate meetings. Some meetings are really needed, like brainstorming or stuff like that. Those meetings are just fine, I still don't like them, but I understand. What I abhor most though, are the "study group" meetings.
There are I think two facts that we can assume here. People want to control how they use their time. I think that's a fair assessment, even if you're not Type-A. And second, people have differing ways of learning. They pace differently, people have different styles. Some study at night, some at day. Some prefer reading from a paper book, some from a PDF. Some learn very quickly, some need the slow ingestion of data. What we can assume rightfully so is that it differs, and no two persons are alike in studying style.
What "study meetings" do is throw those two facts into the air, and when they fall, spit and stomp on them for good measure. It forces people to "use" (I'm using this word very generously) a specific block of time to enforce "studying" (again, used very generously). A topic that could have otherwise been studied by an engineer, by herself/himself, for 15 minutes, is turned into an hour and a half of mind-numbing Powerpoint slide-infested reading session. It forces people to "learn" by reading slides on the screen and ingesting the interpretation of the presenter. Hey, isn't that familiar? Yeah that's right! That's school.
I thought when I graduated I got away from that. Apparently, No. From experience, people spend most of their time trying hard *not* to fall asleep during these meetings (lights closed, and only a slide projection up front as illumination, why not?). To enforce this "study meeting" style is to be callous to the differing needs of people, and is a stark failure in recognizing we are all mature and responsible, professionals.
I don't understand why the engineer can't be told "Study this. We need to learn about it by [date]." Why is that so hard? Is it because the boss doesn't trust the engineer to study it by himself? Excuse me. We're all professionals here. We all know our responsibilities. When I fail to study, that's MY fault and my ass on the line. He did his part by telling me to study. He's absolved! Why does he feel the need to hold my hand through the goddamned process? What am I, eight? Jesus H Christ.
I'm sorry, but I just can't wrap my mind around this shitty "style" for learning. All it does is waste time, which could've been otherwise spent on something more productive. Or I could've spent that time learning by myself, at my cube. I could've finished earlier, and studied some more stuff. About the only thing it is viable now is as a time-eater. And if we're having them for the sake of appearing busy, then that's just sad.
What "study meetings" do is throw those two facts into the air, and when they fall, spit and stomp on them for good measure. It forces people to "use" (I'm using this word very generously) a specific block of time to enforce "studying" (again, used very generously). A topic that could have otherwise been studied by an engineer, by herself/himself, for 15 minutes, is turned into an hour and a half of mind-numbing Powerpoint slide-infested reading session. It forces people to "learn" by reading slides on the screen and ingesting the interpretation of the presenter. Hey, isn't that familiar? Yeah that's right! That's school.
I thought when I graduated I got away from that. Apparently, No. From experience, people spend most of their time trying hard *not* to fall asleep during these meetings (lights closed, and only a slide projection up front as illumination, why not?). To enforce this "study meeting" style is to be callous to the differing needs of people, and is a stark failure in recognizing we are all mature and responsible, professionals.
I don't understand why the engineer can't be told "Study this. We need to learn about it by [date]." Why is that so hard? Is it because the boss doesn't trust the engineer to study it by himself? Excuse me. We're all professionals here. We all know our responsibilities. When I fail to study, that's MY fault and my ass on the line. He did his part by telling me to study. He's absolved! Why does he feel the need to hold my hand through the goddamned process? What am I, eight? Jesus H Christ.
I'm sorry, but I just can't wrap my mind around this shitty "style" for learning. All it does is waste time, which could've been otherwise spent on something more productive. Or I could've spent that time learning by myself, at my cube. I could've finished earlier, and studied some more stuff. About the only thing it is viable now is as a time-eater. And if we're having them for the sake of appearing busy, then that's just sad.
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