Falling behind on individual work? This might be why
As necessary as meetings may be, not all of them have as great an impact on organizations as people like to believe. Take a few minutes to read the stats below to find out how meetings are helping and hindering your efficiency.
Statistics on modern meetings
Highfive has shared some interesting statistics on modern meetings and the way they run. Here are a few surprising ones:
- Every year since 2000, the time spent in meetings has increased by about 10%
- An average meetings lasts anywhere from 31 to 60 minutes
- There are only 2-4 people involved in 73% of meetings
- “Going by the book” (or detailed agenda) can decrease the amount of meeting time up to 80%
- No more than 37% of meetings in the US use agendas
- 73% of people multitask in meetings
For more information, visit: https://highfive.com/blog/10-stats-impacting-modern-meetings/.
Statistics on unproductive meetings
The Muse conducted a survey on unproductive meetings, receiving similar results from survey respondents. Who would’ve thought meetings could be so unproductive? Here are some of the results:
- Collectively, 15% of an organization’s time is spent in meetings
- Unproductive meetings waste more than $37 billion per year
- Just for a simple status update meeting, workers can spend up to 4 hours a week in preparation
- Executives view more than 67% of meetings as failures
- 92% of workers surveyed admitted they multitask in meetings
- 69% check their email during meetings
- 4% of people multitask during video calls while 57% multitask during phone calls
To read more statistics on unproductive meetings, visit: https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-much-time-do-we-spend-in-meetings-hint-its-scary
How to improve meetings
In a blog post on Harvard Business Review, Leslie A. Perlow, Constance Noonan Hadley, and Eunice Eun outline the problems with modern meetings and give thorough suggestions on how to improve the productivity of meetings. Here are some of the blog’s main takeaways:
- Executives can sometimes be caught in meetings for up to 23 hours per week on average
- When wasteful meetings occur, workers often lose valuable time needed to complete tasks and need to stay late or take time out of their weekends to do so
- Of 182 senior managers surveyed, 65% say meetings stop them from finishing individual work and 71% consider meetings unproductive and inefficient
- Organizations should be aware of how workers feel about the productivity of their meetings
- Goals and agendas should be agreed on
- Improvement should be monitored
- Team should be kept updated and workers should be checked in with regularly
To read in-depth about how your organization can use meetings for more productivity instead of less, visit: https://hbr.org/2017/07/stop-the-meeting-madness.
These are some surprising meeting stats! Use them to work on having more productive meetings within your organization and watch your productivity and your team’s communication flourish.
For more stats that may surprise you:
- Canadian Small Business Stats That May Surprise You
- Time Management Stats That May Surprise You
- Project Management Facts That May Surprise You
Frequently Asked Questions About Meeting Productivity
Time spent in meetings has increased by about 10% every year since 2000. The average meeting lasts between 31 and 60 minutes, and 15% of an organization’s total time is spent in meetings.
Only 37% of meetings in the U.S. use agendas, even though following one can reduce meeting time by up to 80%.
Multitasking is widespread — 73% of people multitask in meetings, and 92% of workers admitted doing so in surveys. 69% check email, and 57% multitask on phone calls compared with only 4% on video calls.
Unproductive meetings waste over $37 billion per year, with executives rating 67% of meetings as failures. On average, leaders spend up to 23 hours a week in meetings, often cutting into personal or project work time.
