This Could Have Been An Email
Do you see those coffee mugs and memes on the internet “This meeting could have been an Email” or “This meeting could have been a [teams] post”
There is a reason for those. Workers who want to work in a modern way or workers who employ technology in their companies do not take to productivity time being pulled away for redundancy or for interactions that can be satisfied with a quick exchange or a solution/system that can report on what is discussed or reviewed.
Now that being said, there is an old-school approach of hey face to face / in person will hold people accountable for [insert reason for meeting here] or Hey noting like an ole fashioned collaboration session. Certainly, there are critical times for those types of meetings/events, though look at what is really being accomplished and some of the unintended consequences of holding these meetings regularly.
Shocking Waste of Time
For every minute of meeting time, attendees may take up to a quarter to half of that time to ‘prepare’ for each meeting on our schedule, depending on your role and the type of meeting. As Calendar.com and Forbes articles suggest that there is a minimum of 9min per meeting for the average worker around preparing for a meeting. Roughly 35 - 50% of your work time is prep with the average worker clocking in 12 hours per week leaving only 28 hours for productivity activities or revenue-generating tasks.
“Most of us spend a ridiculous amount of time in meetings. While this can vary, if you’re in middle management, it’s probably around 35% of your time. For upper management? That figure jumps to 50%. It’s also been found that the average person spends 12 hours per week preparing and attending meetings.”
Improper Use of Time Will Cost Your Organization Employees
Workers will tolerate meetings if they have to, what they will not tolerate is their time being wasted. Meaningless meetings alongside meetings that can be satisfied with an email or group message are not only the best use of time for your costly resources. Organizations not only need to portray they value their workers, but they also need to demonstrate it and make them feel valued.
Meetings outside the regular operating hours will create mad or despondent workers. It is one thing to hold a meeting for a multi-time zone attendee list now and again, it is another to expect workers to cough up their personal time on a reoccurring basis.
Consider those meetings where everyone stares at a report or dashboard. How productive is reading as a group the results of data points? Maybe you cloak this as a strategy call to determine what to do with those data points is that what really happened. What likely happened is the attendees were only partially present until their turn came and then tuned back out. This was not an effective use of people’s time.
Embrace a Modern Approach
Organizations are taking many approaches to align business objectives with sensitivities to employees and their time. There is no doubt there is the need every so often to shift a meeting time or have a reckoning meeting especially when a course correction is required, though consider the following the next time you make a meeting or reoccurring event:
Can this be an email
Have you considered an organizational approach to ‘No Meeting [insert day here]’
Is this something that is tracked digitally that we can message as needed about
If you need a status update what is the most effective way for all to update rather than personal preference
Have you considered the timing and how it will impact your workforce’s schedule and opinion of your company or you specifically
Scheduling a meeting to ‘Give Back Time’ if it doesn’t apply or becomes shortened is disrespectful
Factor in your meeting length and opt for 20min or 45/50 min meetings to allow your staff to pivot without being disorganized
Have pointed meetings and reckonings but does the whole team need to attend
Look at your attendee list and if it is appropriate
On a Personal Note
Staff and employees will judge you on how you handle their time. There will be murmurs and grumblings if you have redundant meetings or the appearance of wasting time, micro-management, and overall ineffectiveness. This will impact your ability to be taken seriously and lead not to mention the turn-over rate of your staff.
Take each meeting personally and ensure that you are bringing a forward-thinking modern approach to your interactions and employ some of the tools at your disposal to succeed!