TFK International Business Travel Thread

[Fran]

@johnnysachs

…ace nearby and there are 2 big engineering and nursing universities. I was looking for a hotel with a gym and a swimming pool but they dont seem to do them in Karlsruhe but the huge Vats of Hefeweizen sounds more appealing and what I might need. Did you ever go up to the thermal suites in Baden Baden?

I stayed there about 10 years ago in some awful shithole, think it was the only place left when I went to book. It was a single bed in a room no bigger than a horsebox with a communal toilet down the hall. The town seemed very pleasant though

[Phil_Leotardo]

My inner Colin Ryan is about to burst out

[gilgamboa]

@anon78624367

@PhattPike a trick a very wise man taught me is to respond with your task list and priorities and ask what should be de prioritised if a manager is being a pushy cunt about a meeting. They wont be long about letting you alone

Very strict meeting protocol in my place. No meeting without detailed agenda and outcomes required circulated with the invite. Strict on time. Quite common that people will just get up and leave the minute its scheduled to finish. You need to be ruthless if you are chairing the meeting

[PhattPike]

Oh look trust me, I’ve had plenty of those conversations already - with the conversations themselves and all the various wings of the organisation getting involved with their own interests, it’s often easier just getting on with it, coupled with a need to get my own spake in anyways before it becomes a clusterfuck that I need to solve further down the road.

This whole remote working thing that is meant to change our life in ways we never thought possible is doing just that and is a big cause of it imo.

[anon78624367]

Some people get panicky if they aren’t getting constant updates. They could do it discreetly enough in an office environment, but if everyone’s is remote they can be an absolute plague to deal with.

[anon78624367]

Every meeting should have an agenda and objectives. Chairing a meeting is an art form.

A big problem is cunts blasting out meeting requests to a broad audience for a chat.

You need narrow focus and the right people. Anything more than 6 and you’re fucked

[Little_Lord_Fauntleroy]

@anon78624367

I’ve got a rigorous meeting block, I schedule meetings between 11am and 1pm. Only exceptional circumstances outside that block. Most efficiency is between 7am and 11am.

7am?

wtf?

[johnnysachs]

Paralysis by over analysis. I was in a pharmaceutical company before where they would have meetings about meetings and take detailed minutes of these meetings. Then there were these non sensical “pulse” meetings every day around half 12. I had enough anyway and walked out of the place.

[KinvarasPassion]

@anon78624367

a trick a very wise man taught me is to respond with your task list and priorities and ask what should be de prioritised if a manager is being a pushy cunt about a meeting. They wont be long about letting you alone

“which of these items would you like me to deprioritize?”

[anon78624367]

That reads better. I’m not known for subtlety

[anon78624367]

Whenever I’ve a cunt of a task, I’ll start it before the workday, it’s the only time you’ve guaranteed peace

[Little_Lord_Fauntleroy]

Not the norm I hope

[Ashman]

That is a great line

[anon78624367]

God no

[balbec]

@gilgamboa

…Very strict meeting protocol in my place. No meeting without detailed agenda and outcomes required circulated with the invite. Strict on time. Quite common that people will just get up and leave the minute its scheduled to finish. You need to be ruthless if you are chairing the meeting

Rarely have meetings longer than 30 minutes in my place.

[Ashman]

A good chair is everything .

[flattythehurdler]

@balbec

If they are faced with a problem they won’t bullshit you. They’ll take it off line and come back with a solution. @Julio_Geordio must be working for some Mickey Mouse operation.

The lady doth protest too much methinks.

[balbec]

Have a great trip mate

[flattythehurdler]

Thanks. I’ll certainly try. I’m about to pm you.

[tallback]

Sitting in the lounge in Dublin Airport ahead of 24 hours of flying to Sydney.

I’ve got my facemasks packed as a nod to the current viral threat but to be honest I’ve no idea if they’re any use so most likely they’ll be in the same pocket unused when I return in 2 weeks.