NY times had a quick little post on how PowerPoint can sometimes lead to meaningless briefings:  Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War – PowerPoint:

“The slide has since bounced around the Internet as an example of a military tool that has spun out of control. Like an insurgency, PowerPoint has crept into the daily lives of military commanders and reached the level of near obsession. The amount of time expended on PowerPoint, the Microsoft presentation program of computer-generated charts, graphs and bullet points, has made it a running joke in the Pentagon and in Iraq and Afghanistan. – Sent using Google Toolbar”

Another place where I have found PowerPoint to cause problems is project reviews.  Not only do R&D teams spend a significant amount of time developing review packages, but also the briefings tend to be so dense that it is rather difficult to identify and focus on issues of importance.  I am sometimes amazed that reviews actually are useful.  Templates can definitely help, but in the end, I am still looking for a meaningful solutions…