The Top 10 Hall of Shame Project Meeting Moments

AKA why half your team secretly dreads the invite

We’ve all been there. Some of these are awkward, some are tragic, and some are just plain funny. Count down with me 👇

10. The Stranger Danger.
Kickoff introductions begin, and suddenly you realize half the “customers” work in your own organization. Maybe a pre-meeting would’ve helped.

9. The Cubicle Chorus.
Ten people dial into the “virtual” meeting… from their cubicles. All on the same floor, within shouting distance, and with a nice echo chorus.

8. The Lone Dial-In.
You log into the meeting only to realize you’re the only one virtual. Everyone else is in the conference room, laughing at jokes you can’t hear.

7. The Wrong Project.
Fifteen minutes in, you realize you’ve been running the agenda for an entirely different project. The good news is nobody noticed because nobody was paying attention anyway.

6. The Vanishing PM.
Big kickoff with big energy, sadly the team ran out of handouts. The PM runs off to make copies and disappears for 25 minutes.

5. The Oversharer.
Status update is rolling along smoothly until someone decides the group needs to hear about the challenges with their ex and their moving-out plans.

4. The Surprise Guest Star.
Nobody got the memo it was bring-your-child-to-work day except the parent with the screaming toddler who steals the spotlight mid-presentation.

3. The Lost Leader.
It’s off-site kickoff day and you sent the team directions to the wrong location. Somehow, they figured it out and showed up on time. You on the other hand strolled in 30 minutes late because you missed your exit.

2. The Party of One.
Work’s canceled due to inclement weather but you didn’t check the memo. You show up anyway, alone in the conference room, with a dozen donuts and zero teammates.

1. The Frozen Face.
Twenty minutes into the meeting, you realize you’ve been disconnected the whole time. How do you figure it out? Because a friend sends you a screenshot of your face frozen in mid-contortion on the big screen.

👉 Which of these fails have you witnessed (or committed 😬)?

Drop your own “meeting disaster” in the comments. Let’s see which one gets crowned the worst of all time.