Excessive meetings are more than an annoyance, an Atlassian study of 5,000 workers across four continents found: They’re a bigger drain on productivity than lack of motivation, unclear goals or responsibilities, unclear collaboration expectations and other roadblocks.
Nearly 4 in 5 workers said they’re expected to attend so many meetings, it’s hard to get work done. Adding to the frustration, a little over half of workers said they leave meetings without a clear idea of what to do next, and 77% said meetings just result in follow-up meetings. Half said they regularly needed to work overtime to make up for time spent in meetings.
Workers reported that more effective meetings had an agenda. And most said a 30-minute meeting’s goals could usually be accomplished in half the time, suggesting shorter meetings may be better.