I went to a mandatory meeting at my job last week. It was the first meeting that I have had to go to since starting at this job and I was filled with giddy anticipation. After all, the owners would be there and who doesn’t want to meet the people that they work for? We were told that it would start precisely at 5:30 and last for about 45 minutes. It was essential that we get there on time because it would definitely start at 5:30. So at 5:50, I was a bit grumpy because it was “time to get this ball rollin’.” Why the fuck did I bust my ass to get there on time on my fucking day off if it didn’t even matter?
Due to my prior experience with mandatory meetings at restaurants, I had already decided to not say a word because there are always plenty of others who have more than enough to say. I have also learned that nothing makes a bit of difference anyway. Managers and owners have all these grand ideas that they want implemented and they try to encourage their staff to work as a team and all that crap. But nothing ever changes. “From now on, the schedule will be made two weeks in advance!” Uh huh, sure. “No more cell phone use allowed!” Right, got it. “Give customers the correct order!” Yeah, that’ll happen. Blah blah blah, in one ear and out my ass.
And then the owners speak. Two guys that never bothered to introduce themselves to me. I still don’t know their names, but I know for a fact that they are really really important people. Because they wear suits. They blabbed about how customer service is their number one priority when we all know their priority is making money. It just is. No need to try to hide it, fellas. Own up to it and I might be willing to push a bit harder for you. But for you to sit up there with your big fancy JC Penny suits and try to convince me that the only reason you are in this business is to make customers happy is a big load of crap.
The meeting was supposed to be over at 6:15. At 6:50, when the meeting was over, I put my coat on and left. Next shift at work was exactly the same. Mandatory meetings are a waste of time. We all know it. The people who call the meetings are the only ones who are under the influence that they matter. They don’t. How about you? What are your thoughts on the big time suck known as “the mandatory meeting?”
Amber Dunn
I work for a corporate company, and every three months or so we have meetings that if you dont show you will be fired from.usualy its just menu refresh so no one really grumbles because, hey, free food! But after the fold is the usual bitcj fest about everythingg we do wrong. When corporate comes for the meetings we get texts to make sure we iron our shirts and aprons, take off our nails, and pretend like the a/c isnt broken
Sarah
We have monthly mandatory meetings on saturdays at noon. Suckiest time to have a meeting ever. If you don't come you get $25 docked from your paycheck…how that is legal I do not know. It is always the same info at every meeting (reduce waste, be on time, teamwork, blah blah blah)
Maude
I know it’s a faux pas to reply to an old thread like this but….
It’s completely illegal to steal money from your employees if they don’t show up to the meeting
Also, servers need to clock in for every minute of a meeting, starting at the time it was scheduled to begin until it is over. They are taking up your time and you’re required to be there to keep your job!
Your employer is also required to pay you at least state minimum wage for the duration of the meeting.
P.S. ily <3 BW
AlyKat
I started my second serving job about a month ago. My first MANDATORY-YOU-GET-FIRED-IF-YOU-DON'T-SHOW-UP-MEETING was two weeks ago. It was at 7am. This was the entire meeting.Manager: "We will be implementing some new things in the restaurant. Also, I wanted everyone to get to know each other. Everyone go around and say your names, and something interesting about you."Me when it was my turn: "My name is Aly, I hate mandatory meetings at insane hours that don't offer any actual information."Manager when everyone was done: "Alright meeting over!"Asshole….
Anonymous
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mellie
I've been out of the server business for about 10 years, but I remember the meetings quite well. And you're right, nothing changes. Especially at an Islop. But there was one meeting that was memorable. After getting cut from the floor and getting our sidework done early, 3 of my fellow servers and I had a few hours to kill before the "mandatory meeting". So we went out for a couple of quick drinks. Long story short, we all came back in drunk, stoned, and wearing our ties around our head like a headband. I have to honestly say that was one of the funniest meetings I ever went to. It was also the last one that particular manager ever tried to have.
brit
Hooters doesn't bother with mandatory meetings. Cramming 90, bitchy or giggling (either way, annoying), girls into a room and getting them to shut up for an extended period of time is damn near impossible. So instead, we receive MEMOS with our emailed schedules telling us that "we are an image-based company" and to "remember to make time for the gym!" along with the more mundane updates. Fabulous.
Anonymous
I worked as a manager at a place where we had manager meetings once a week. It was owned by these two douches, 1 who had NEVER worked in or owned a restaurant before, (he just hung out in them because he was a tool like that), just a gimmick for him to pick up girls; the other was a partner in another place where he was bought out of the ownership (I have yet to find out the juicy details of that severed relationship). Well the place wasn't doing well AT ALL, I think a piece of it due to the shady business practices ofthe owners (this city is small, and when we're talking restaurants…it gets smaller). We wound up having meetings multiple times a week where the owners would just decide to have meetings just for the hell of it. Well..these metings consisted of us bouncing ideas off of eachother on how we could increase business, everything from changing the concept, to different menus offered at different times…such a friggin nightmare! We discussed the same ideas OVER, and OVER AGAIN! The owners would yes us to death, but never wanted to move forward with anything. Myself & the other manager would text eachother from across the table, I often found myself staring out the window wishing I could work at the place next door…I did a happy dance when I got layed off…good riddins!
Waiter Extraordinaire
The only time we have a meeting is when a new menu roll out occurs and we taste the food. That I don't mind at all. It is a fun occasion. If anything needs to be said just say it when it happens and forget about the meetings. They are always a downer anyway.
Elyse
My job scheduled their last mandatory meeting on the day of my brother's wedding. I obviously wasn't going to be there. I of course am the only one written up for not being there, despite having the day off scheduled 3 months in advance, versus their two week-ahead-of-time announcement. I most definitely was NOT the only one not there either.
Paula
i cant say anything more than you have said about the dumbass mandatory meetings, bitchy. Red Lobster has one everytime they do a new promo…blah blah blah….WHO CARES !!!!!!!! just let me wait on my tables, get my tip and go home
purplegirl
Our last meeting was announced two weeks ahead of time; people who live thirty minutes away drove in for it. It lasted three minutes, and half the staff wasn't there. Utterly retarded.
BB
I love the MANDATORY meetings where half the staff doesn't show up.. and there are no consequences. What's the point in holding mandatory meetings when most people pull the "I forgot" card? They could just as easily send out an email listing all the "new" rules that everyone will begin breaking the minute they close the email.