Why Business Meetings Kill Productivity

There’s nothing worse than checking your mobile calendar to find your entire day is booked solid with meetings. What happened to actually doing work?

Let’s face it: The workforce has an addiction to meetings. As a manager and business owner, this doesn’t make much sense to me. Meetings are an extremely expensive waste of time, especially when the entire staff is involved in something that runs more than two hours.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research reported that office workers spend an average of four hours per week in meetings. Not surprisingly, these same workers reported feeling like half of that time is wasted. Additionally, a Salary.com survey reported 47 percent of workers say meetings are the No. 1 time-waster at the office.

But not all meetings are unnecessary and unproductive. I spoke with project management and productivity expert Tony Wong to learn more about transforming meetings and increasing productivity. Here are his tips:

1. Keep an eye on the clock.

Do you really need 60 minutes to address the topic at hand? Before you schedule your next meeting, pay attention to the amount of time you block off. Allotting an entire hour for a meeting may lead your attendees to fill the entire time slot just for the sake of it.

Try reducing the length of your meetings to 30 minutes or less. Stay on schedule by always beginning at the stated time, regardless of whether everyone has arrived, and end the meeting on time, even if you haven't completed your agenda.

2. Track your number of attendees.

The more people you invite to your meeting, the more you sap productivity. If you’re inviting more than 10 people to your meeting, it might be a sign of laziness. Think of your meetings as VIP events--limit your invitations only to those whom are vital to the topic. As a rule, try for five people or less.

3. Choose a direction and stick with it.

No one has time to meet just to meet. When it comes to making a decision or sharing information, business meetings aren’t the most effective tool. Instead, you can take care of those things with a simple phone call or a company-wide email with a plea for no reply.

Unless it's a brainstorming session, a meeting should be called only to support and convey a previously made decision. Keep in mind a productive business meeting produces a committed plan of action. To stay on track, curb any irrelevant discussions, interruptions, and repeated points.

4. Define the type of meeting you’re holding.

Is it a business meeting or a work session? Stating this from the get-go will give your attendees a better description of what to come prepared for.

It seems as if the definition of a traditional business meeting has gotten lost over the years, which is likely how long-winded meetings with unnecessary tasks came about. People easily confuse business meetings with group work sessions and brainstorming sessions. These two types of work settings require far more time than a standard meeting--often two hours.

5. Break bad habits.

Your bad habits are likely getting in the way of a quick and effective meeting. Be militant about accomplishing more at your meetings. Break notoriously unproductive habits like long introductions and repetitive ramblings. Also be sure that all of your attendees come prepared with the appropriate materials or a list of talking points.

But most importantly, realize that it’s OK to turn down meetings that aren't vital to you or interrupt your deadlines. If you can't avoid the meeting altogether, set a time limit and leave accordingly.

The traditional business meeting is broken. Transform it by keeping it timely, concise, and used only when necessary.

Do you think the business meeting is broken?

About Ilya Pozin:

Founder of Ciplex. Columnist for Inc, Forbes & LinkedIn. Gadget lover, investor, mentor, husband, father, and '30 Under 30' entrepreneur. Follow Ilya below to stay up-to-date with his articles and updates!

Simon Berglund

"Diligent sets the standard for modern governance with its feature rich GRC platform", including securing the highest possible score for Audit Management. (Forrester Wave)

7y

Expanding on your mention of productivity, I read a great article by Kevin Kruse recently, wherein he summarises the Productivity Practices of ultra-productive people including 7 billionaires, 13 Olympians, 20 straight-A students and over 200 successful entrepreneurs. He asked a single, open-ended question, “What is your number one secret to productivity?” See more here... https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/productivity-secrets-successful-people-simon-berglund

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Simon Berglund

"Diligent sets the standard for modern governance with its feature rich GRC platform", including securing the highest possible score for Audit Management. (Forrester Wave)

7y

Expanding on your mention of productivity, I read a great article by Kevin Kruse recently, wherein he summarises the Productivity Practices of ultra-productive people including 7 billionaires, 13 Olympians, 20 straight-A students and over 200 successful entrepreneurs. He asked a single, open-ended question, “What is your number one secret to productivity?” See more here... https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/productivity-secrets-successful-people-simon-berglund

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Val Sanford

Chief Marketing Officer at bluerub

9y

I use a Parking Lot function. the first thing I do at the start of a meeting is draw a square on the top right hand of the white board. I tell folks if we run into a topic that needs discussion we'll parking lot it. I assign each parking lot item to an individual to own and manage. It's good. I also make sure someone is taking meeting notes. It's critical and keeps everyone accountable. Meeting notes are due the same day.

Hugh Culver

Business Coach | Entrepreneur

10y

Nice. I love Caterina Fake's 16oz rule. Everyone starts by drinking 16oz of water. When the first person has to excuse themselves, the meeting is over!

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I've observed the weekly meetings with no defined outcome. I void meetings without a clear purpose. This article is well overdue.

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