Why Do We Have So Many Pointless Meetings at Work? A Common Office Problem

If you work in an office, you have likely experienced meetings that seem to achieve very little. I have attended meetings where the sole purpose was to decide when the next meeting should take place. It sounds absurd, but it is surprisingly common. These are meetings about meetings, and they have become a familiar feature of modern work culture.

Many of these sessions run far longer than necessary. They are filled with corporate language and familiar phrases like “action items,” “alignment,” and “circling back.” An agenda may exist, but it is often ignored once the discussion begins. The person leading the meeting may speak at length, aiming to sound strategic or authoritative, yet the conversation drifts without direction. What follows is often an open discussion that quickly turns into a never-ending loop of talk without purpose. By the end, people leave with pages of notes and very little clarity.

Then there is the so-called meeting after the meeting, where three distinct groups tend to emerge. The first group does not engage at all. They leave without comment because they stopped caring long ago.

The second group gathers just outside the room or remains on the call after others have logged off, blocking hallways or lingering awkwardly on screen. Their goal is not clarity or progress, but visibility. They circle around the presenters or anyone higher up the hierarchy, eager to be noticed and to please. They display their notes, ask questions that add little, and seek validation rather than answers. They speak as if something groundbreaking has just happened and show exaggerated excitement about the next meeting.

The third group quietly keeps the workplace running. They nod in disbelief and leave because they have real work to do. They know what the actual problems are, yet those issues never even get mentioned. These are the people who return to their desks and continue doing the work that matters. In reality, the organization functions because of them.

They leave frustrated, aware that valuable time has been wasted, and often blaming themselves for being stuck in a system they cannot change. They work to meet deadlines, support families, and keep things moving, all while navigating decisions made by people with little hands-on understanding of the work itself.

There was a time when meetings served a clear purpose. Decisions were made. Tasks were assigned. Everyone understood what came next. Somewhere along the way, that efficiency faded. Meetings began to signal involvement rather than produce outcomes. Attendance became a substitute for progress.

The shift to virtual meetings has amplified the problem. With scheduling now effortless, calendars fill quickly. Back-to-back video calls leave little room for focused work. Instead of improving collaboration, constant meetings fragment attention and drain energy.

Not all meetings are pointless. Some are necessary and valuable. When planned with intent, they help teams solve problems and move forward. The issue arises when meetings become routine rather than purposeful. Time is spent talking about work instead of doing it.

The next time you find yourself sitting through a discussion that goes in circles, it is worth asking whether the goal is progress or simply presence. Too often, meetings exist to be seen rather than to decide. When talking replaces thinking and attendance replaces accountability, nothing moves forward. In many cases, a short message or a clear decision would achieve more than an hour-long meeting ever could.

If pointless meetings held for the sake of meetings disappeared tomorrow, the real work would still get done — and some workplaces might finally notice who actually does it.