Lady Lee,
Did they have to take all the time that they did or was there a lot of gabbing going on.
In my experience, a heck of a lot of time was wasted in endless debates over trivial matters, and also wasted by most of my fellow elders not having much experience in thinking on their feet or in reasoning on stuff. For example, there was always a few elders who were literally a couple of minutes "behind" in the discussion, so to speak, with resultant time wasting re-hashing. Sometimes it was a lot like a religious "Dilbert" cartoon.....
The debates/discussions over trivial stuff bugged me. There is usually more than one acceptable way to do most anything, sometimes 10 different acceptable ways, but when you've got a room full of men who are full of themselves and their personal opinions, it is usually a slow process to decide much of anything, especially when most present can't see that unless a really important principle is involved, it's more important to get stuff decided and move on to the next issue.
Unlike a business-like atmosphere where all present try to be brief and concise, recognizing the time that is being spent/wasted, most elder's meetings are not very efficient. The Watchtower Society would like to paint the picture of thoughtful elder's meetings, with humble men who do their best to "care for the flock"....the reality is far different with "politics" being played, and power struggles and all the rest.
But what more could one expect of men who were/are mostly janitors and lawn-mowers (no offense) or other types with little practical experience in working smoothly with a group?
My two cents, I guess I veer off your subject, but these things just poured out of me just now.
-Dan