Have you ever had a meeting spin out of control? Maybe you’ve had the items of discussion completely go off-topic? To be short: have you ever “experienced” poor meeting efficiency?
According to 150 senior executives up to 1/4 of all meetings could be eliminated! 11 Mio. meetings are held every day! That would mean approx the time spent in approx. 3 Mio. meetings could be spent productively! It seems there are little things that could boost your efficiency at the same scale.
47% say it’s a waste of time
You’re not alone. Many employees — 47 percent in fact — say that attending too many meetings is the biggest waste of their time. And many in management agree with them: About one-quarter of senior executives say that all meetings are unnecessary.
Even so, the workplace shows no sign of giving up meetings: There are 11 million of them every day, sucking up over one-third of all employees’ time and costing about $37 billion — yes, that’s billions with nine zeros.
But it doesn’t have to be that way: Employees and management can follow a few steps to help make those meetings work harder and smarter. For starters, ask yourself what you’ll be doing in the meeting—making decisions, brainstorming, or just sharing information. Are you inviting too many people, or the wrong people — those who can’t make decisions that should be included? Furthermore, check out this detailed analysis for the real reasons of poor meeting efficiency.
During meetings, someone should also control what’s discussed and what isn’t, as well as whether or not electronics are permitted. Reminders are good, as are exacting start times. In addition, following up on the tasks and decisions, who said what, and when things are due, is key to making the most of meetings.
Wrest your meetings back from inefficiency and lack of productivity with these helpful tips in this graphic.