Take a moment to think about all the time you have spent in meetings throughout your career. Use your mind’s eye to envision how you would have spent that time if you weren’t tied up in meetings. Think about how much more productive you would have been had meetings been limited to those that were absolutely necessary, or were limited to the parties that are most relevant to the subject matter discussed.

Inefficient meetings can easily consume an employee's precious time dedicated to their work, and through that take a sizable chunk out of the company’s bottom line. Let’s take a closer look at the true cost of inefficient meetings and how to solve them for good.

Why Are Employees Tired of Meetings?

If you were to take an anonymous poll of your employees, there is a good chance you would find that many may be unsatisfied with the number of meetings scheduled on their calendars. However, few, if any, would admit so aloud. Many employees have also experienced a major shift in how their meetings have been conducted over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a major influx in what many of us like to call “Zoom fatigue”.

Unfortunately, having a series of meetings, whether they be via Zoom or in-person, throughout the workweek can significantly reduce the amount of time employees spend on their dedicated tasks. Some meetings can force employees to focus on work that their co-workers expect to be completed based on the dynamics of the meeting, ultimately putting other projects on the back burner. This is a risky approach as it has the potential to cause employee burnout. A substantial decrease in the number of inefficient meetings or even shortening the length of meetings would significantly help ramp up employee productivity.

Should Your Meeting Be In An Email?

Many times, a bulk of the material that could have been covered in a meeting can be better explained in an email message or a comparably small meeting for the employees who are most likely to benefit from face-to-face interactions with colleagues based on the nuances of the subject matter. Indeed, some meetings are absolutely necessary and generate positive results and can offer employees the opportunity to collaborate, socialize or express their frustrations. However, if you want to see these positive results for your organization and employees, you must choose your meeting strategy wisely. 

So, be selective when it comes to scheduling meetings. Carefully select days and times for infrequent meetings and employee get-togethers. Make them frequent enough to drive a sense of importance, without them being redundant. It is also never a bad idea to simply ask your employees to give their take on how they feel about their current "meeting workload" or calendar. The truth is, employees really do listen closer and offer more valuable input during meetings when they occur less frequently, rather than overly frequently. 

Solutions To Save Your Business

Consider a meeting that involves half a dozen employees. If this meeting were to last an entire hour, it would equate to six lost hours of work. Your company has to pay wages/salaries along with benefits to employees for working during these meetings.

Consult with leadership as well as human resources to review the frequency and necessity of meetings in your organization. Discuss all the available options with your organization’s power brokers, consolidate meetings so they can use email communications to cover information that would have been otherwise discussed in meetings, and you will be on your way to making the most of your team’s time at work. For example, meeting agendas can be discussed via email prior to the start of meetings, ensuring the time you spend in the meeting room proves as efficient as possible. And speaking of meeting agendas, make sure that dedicated time is taken to make them thorough and detailed before sending them prior to the meeting, and expectations are set to how employees can best prepare for the meeting ahead of time, if needed.

The sad reality is that meetings can, in fact, subtract from an organization’s bottom line rather than add to it. Be hyper-aware of the frequency and length of your company’s meetings, make the adjustments as necessary and you will finally make the most of the time your group spends together. Our team of HR professionals and advisors is here to help. Contact us today to tap into the expertise of our team to help you find custom-tailored meeting solutions that make a meaningful impact on your bottom line.