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A comment on Show HN: I built an app for when I talk too much in online meetings. Parent comment

Re:Show HN: I built an app for when I talk too much in onlin... by zucked on Thursday July 14, 2022 @04:10PM (#32100884)
My assumption is that if you're in the meeting, it has some adjacency to your work. This isn't about calling on the daydreaming kid in high school Spanish class who _has_ to be there to graduate. If you're in the meeting, it should be applicable to you and you should be ready to give some input; even saying something like "I'm not sure, need more info", or "don't have anything to add" is a valid and acceptable answer.

If the meeting isn't germane to your work, why are you in it?

I know people who do this because they're genuinely trying to get input from a broad set of people, some of whom will never speak unless they're asked directly. It doesn't have to be a mark of an alpha trying to beta everyone else.

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Re:Show HN: I built an app for when I talk too much in onlin... by p_j_w on Thursday July 14, 2022 @04:47PM (#32101250)
>My assumption is that if you're in the meeting, it has some adjacency to your work.

This assumption does not match up with my experience.

>If the meeting isn't germane to your work, why are you in it?

I personally have gotten pretty good about declining meetings, but plenty of people aren't. Besides, I've been occasionally asked by my direct manager to attend a meeting that it turns out I wasn't actually needed at or remotely interested in for my work.

It would be nice to live in a world where meetings worked ideally and there weren't a bunch of people there wasting their own time, but that is sadly not the world we live in.

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Re:Show HN: I built an app for when I talk too much in onlin... by zucked on Thursday July 14, 2022 @05:02PM (#32101416)
If it's not a meeting that you have any applicability to and someone asks for your input in the meeting, say so.

"Sorry, I don't see myself using this product/service/team - not because it isn't good, it just isn't relevant to what I'm responsible for/in charge of".

I feel like people treat meetings like this inescapable prison; once you're invited, you can never escape! It's bonkers. If you don't need to go to the meeting or don't have applicability… don't.

I work for a Fortune-listed company -- exactly the kind of place where attendee bloat thrives and I've never once had any manager or supervisor aggressively push back on my declines if they are valid.

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