Is there life outside of meetings? A manager is either in a meeting or on the way to a meeting. You can always ask if all the appointments are necessary, but one thing is sure: it is a pain to schedule a meeting.
A typical scenario is that one person sends emails to the attendees from different companies and organizations. The message contains a list of possible dates and times. Gradually people respond and a date and time that seems to suits everyone is about to emerge. Finally one person, probably one whose attendance is very important, sends a message saying that none of those dates is possible. He or she may suggest another date and the messaging starts all over again.
On the day of the meeting everything seems to be all right, but not quite. The person who wanted to change the date does not show up, because of an urgency elsewhere.
I don’t know if anyone has calculated how much time and money is wasted because of these kinds of incidents. I think that one cure is to radically reduce the number of large face-to-face meetings. You should really think if a meeting is necessary and if there are other ways to work together and discuss. This is also a learning issue. People should take time and some effort to learn new ways to communicate and collaborate. Tools for that are already there.
