@AndyLester Presumably the OP is getting beaten up for their lack of perceived productivity by a clueless management chain which isn't aware that >50% of developer productivity is being nibbled away by a culture of unnecessary/ unscheduled/ impromptu/ overrunning/ overly-broad-attendee list meetings. I don't see hostility, I think you're seizing on terms like "fight back" , but yes it's better to use neutral language ("deal with"/"handle")