| If your employees feel overwhelmed and underproductive, consider how meetings might be a culprit. Before the pandemic, about 55 million meetings a day were held in the United States alone. This number has only gone up. According to a recent study sponsored by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the amount of time employees spend in meetings has increased by 13% during the pandemic. |
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If your employees feel overwhelmed and underproductive, consider how meetings might be a culprit. Before the pandemic, about 55 million meetings a day were held in the United States alone. This number has only gone up. According to a recent study sponsored by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the amount of time employees spend in meetings has increased by 13% during the pandemic.
People often default to planning a meeting when they need to make a decision or monitor progress on an initiative. And they often invite people who don’t need to be there (HBR’s meeting calculator shows just how much these bloated meetings can cost).
All this has led to meeting fatigue, leaving employees with less time to do their work. And if your team is working in different time zones, the time difference can be an added burden.
This week you’ll make sure the recurring meetings on your team’s calendar are essential — and remove the ones that aren’t. But be careful not to overcorrect by cancelling meetings haphazardly. Meetings can be a vital time for colleagues to connect and build rapport, which can be especially critical in remote work and can actually prevent burnout. You should, however, be discerning and intentional about the meetings you hold — freeing up more time for your team can allow for necessary breaks and help with workload.
Block out 30 minutes today or tomorrow to take stock of the recurring team meetings you own. For each one, follow the steps below:
- Ask yourself, is this meeting necessary? In other words, is it an opportunity to bring team members together that you wouldn’t have otherwise? Do you use the meeting to make decisions that require an active conversation?
- If a meeting is truly necessary, then consider:
Consider reviewing the points above with any team members who own meetings — or sharing them with other managers at your company. If assessing all of your meetings at once feels overwhelming, try this simple hack for now: Reduce one of your recurring hourlong meetings to 45 minutes, so your team can take a breath before their next gathering begins.
Next week, we’ll look at another tactic that can mitigate burnout: regularly expressing your appreciation to employees.
How did this activity go for you? Tell us at audience@hbr.org.
This activity is adapted from the work of Jennifer Moss, the author of “Beyond Burned Out.”
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Want to learn more? Read:
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Ebook |
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HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter Ebook + Tools
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by Harvard Business Review
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Meetings are challenging enough when everyone’s in the same room. Now that everyone is virtual, they are even more challenging. The HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter + Tools will equip you with the checklists, templates, and scripts you need to transform your meetings into productive conversations that lead to action in the days and weeks ahead.
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