[galoisscobi]

> Developers are expected to attend meetings more than ever.

How do people deal with this? I'm expected to take on more and more meetings and my time to do deep work diminishes as I go on. I'm curious to learn more from people who are handling this well.

[Falkon1313]

Sleep until about 15 minutes before the first meeting. There's no sense bothering getting into work only to be interrupted by a meeting.

If it's a meeting-heavy day just resign yourself to the fact that you're not going to get anything done that day. So basically, you have to plan your sprints to be two days shorter than they actually are (or whatever, depending on your company's meeting schedule).

Adjust all your estimates accordingly. A 3 hour task will take all day when you factor in interruptions, meetings, and meeting fatigue, so estimate 8 hours for it.

Sigh heavily, and remind yourself that you couldn't possibly get more than 3 days work done in two weeks, under the circumstances. So what little you did is actually pretty good.

[DoingIsLearning]

> I'm curious to learn more from people who are handling this well.

Working as an IC I just don't accept invites and don't attend. With the following exceptions:

- Weekly review/Agile flavour meetings with my team

- Meeting with a team member to solve a specific issue

- A manager/VP/CTO _explicitly_ makes it clear _my_ presence is required

Perhaps I've been luck with my managers or perhaps it comes with seniority but I've never got any negative feedback on this. Most people invite you in for stuff just as a passive listener.

When I'm doing contract work I make it clear I am available for milestone review meetings and everything else is surcharged billable hours.

[timalmond]

Mostly, I refuse and explain why I am refusing. I write replies like:-

"I have nothing to contribute to this, so I see no value in attending this meeting."

"I see that point 3 on the agenda is relevant to me, can you bring me into the meeting at that point"?

These are professional answers. You are telling whoever has invited you that you think your time is better spent, on behalf of the company, doing something else. If they then insist despite your protests, you have to accept it. Although you might at some point realise that the person you are working for is an idiot.

[mariusor]

> "I see that point 3 on the agenda is relevant to me, can you bring me into the meeting at that point"?

This to me sounds like you are equally disrespectful of other people times as you complain that they are about yours.

What having them "bring you into the meeting at that point" means is that now everyone else has to wait the 5 minutes it takes the host to message you, wait for your arrival and then go over why they brought you in (for your benefit, and maybe everyone else's), instead of just going on with the point. I would be bothered if this would happen in one of my meetings. What you're basically saying is that your 30 minutes saved of the meeting are more important than the 5 minutes it loses for everyone else.

[csande17]

Sometimes, I've just kept on coding through the meeting. It's like listening to a podcast as you code. You do have to keep one ear out in case someone asks you a question directly, but listening for your name Alexa-wake-word-style isn't that hard.