SURVEY SAYS – How Many of Your Meetings Waste Time?

May 20. 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - In a recent OfficeTeam survey, responding executives told us something we probably didn't need to be told; we're all asked to participate in meetings that take time and don't contribute much, if anything.

Thinking of what executives surveyed in the OfficeTeam survey covered in yesterday’s NewsDash (see  Productive Meeting or Waste of Time? ), this week I asked readers to recount their experience – in meetings generally, and in the meetings they convened/chaired.

Turning Point?

I can’t be sure if it’s an East Coast/West Coast thing – or perhaps just people getting out of meetings – but right around noon (ET), the survey responses took a decidedly different turn from where they spent the morning.  

How so?   Well, for most of the morning, the leading response to the question was “between 1% and 10%” – suggesting that most meetings attended by this week’s respondents were more productive than one might initially suspect.  

That said, and it bears mentioning that, even at the end of the day, that was still the SECOND most popular response ( 19.2% ) – but still, in an amazing late day comeback, 23.2% said that “more than half” of the meetings they attended wasted time.  

So, you tell me – are West Coast meetings that much less productive?   Or were the East Coasters and Midwesterners simply tied up in wasteful meetings all morning?  Or both?

In any event, beyond those totals 17.2% said that between 11% and 25% were wasteful, while 12.1% each put that count at between 26% and 33% or between 34% and 50%.  

Nearly one-in-ten ( 9.1% ) found less than 1% of meetings to be a waste, while 4% said they didn’t go to meetings that waste time, and another 3% simply said they didn’t go to meetings.

Now, considering that one person's wasteful meeting can be another's valuable expenditure of time, I asked readers to evaluate the quality of the meetings they convened/ran.   And, if those evaluations are any measure, "our" meetings are better run affairs.

For starters, no one said that more than half of their meetings fit that wasteful category, and a mere 3.1% each said that it fell in between 34%-50%, or 26%-33% (and I'm going to go out on a limb here, and suppose that the waste comes from the "contribution" (or lack thereof) of others).  

The most common response - cited by 21.6% - was between 1% and 10%, and 15.5% said that less than one percent of "their" meetings were wasteful.  Another 15% said they didn't run meetings that wasted time.

But then, there was the 18.6% who said they didn't run meetings (one reader said, "I don't get to convene meetings, I'm too low on the totem pole." ) - and the 12.4% who said, "it depends on who you ask."

There were a lot of varied perspectives, and not all negative about meetings:

"I'm sick and tired of consultants and authors saying that meetings are unproductive. The MOST productive thing we do are our meetings!!!"

One reader said, "I try to do as much as possible by email" - and yet another acknowledged, "Most of the ones I convene are to stop others from wasting time bickering back and forth through e-mail and just put them face to face!"

Another complained "We never have ANY meetings. Therefore, no one ever knows what is going on, there is no communication, the same job is being done by various people for a duplication of duties and work. We are a small company, less than 50 people. Communication is VERY important. It is extremely bad for moral if everyone is in the dark and no one knows what is going on!"

"In general, I feel that meetings are beneficial even if our objective is not necessarily completed. It is very important to keep teams on the same page and up to speed on projects, or to check in with providers to get status updates. Without meetings, you may be getting a ton of work done in your own mind, but whose to say it is the right work, the most productive or helpful, or in the right direction, or still necessary?"

"While I detest meetings, I have to admit that I find value in many of them. There will be some nugget of information or some connection made that I learn later was important. We work hard here to ensure meetings have agendas and we stick to them and end on time (or earlier). It's very easy to say meetings are timewasters so let's eliminate them, there is no way you can. The focus instead should be on how to conduct effective meetings that produce good results. Ok, you can call me Pollyanna (though my name is Julie). :-)"

"A previous manager held regular staff meetings that kept us all up to date with the big picture. Now it seems everything is on a need to know basis and we have many more meetings dealing with how to fix problems that arose because not all the people that needed information had access to it."

There were some suggestions for how to do it "better":

"Some years ago, I was assigned to the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon. The Army two-star general who headed our agency used to have stand-up meetings--no one, including him, sat down. Those meetings never dragged on."

Some of the issues dealt with what happened ahead of the meeting:

"Sometimes I feel our company has meetings to create meetings for other times and dates."

"My favorite is always the "pre-meeting meeting" where you meet to discuss what you are going to meet about."

"I can't stand the meeting to plan the meeting."

Other complaints stemmed from the meeting itself:

"I'd say 50% of the meetings I'm invited to waste time.   Or worse, not only do they waste time, but there is no product generated from the meeting. No questions answered, no plans initiated.   Only another meeting scheduled.   It's enough to drive you to drink."

"Actually, it's not the meetings themselves that waste time, it's that 10 minutes before waiting for all of the people who think they're too important to be there on time. Not to mention the 10 minutes at the end of the meeting when everyone is talking about what they watched on TV last night."

"Waiting for people to stop using their Crackberries/laptops/cell phones is a HUGE time waster."

"Weekly department meetings are the worst: Everyone takes their turn in telling what they are working on or what projects they are involved in. We all sit in the same room - there is never any new information in the meeting."

"We have a staff meeting every week. We send out a status report prior to the meeting. Why have a meeting I ask you, when everyone knows what the other has done for the past week."

"Regularly scheduled meetings that status everything everyone is supposed to be doing on a project. An email summary would suffice."

"The weekly staff meeting is a 2-hour long exercise in futility as we listen to our boss prattle on about so-called projects of importance and gives us an opportunity to update the team on things they already know about."

And sometimes it was just the sheer volume:

"We have monthly department meetings, monthly meetings with the department heads to hear updates on the company, monthly meetings with payroll, monthly "optional" lunch meetings with our group, and monthly one-on-one meetings with our direct boss. In addition we have weekly meetings with our recordkeeper. In addition to these regularly scheduled meets, at least once a week a meeting is thrown at us. They can serve a useful purpose but, if going to the meeting keeps me from doing my job, it's a time waster."

And then there were just the responses that drew a chuckle:

"I had a meeting with a client that started at 10:30.   At   11:00 the cuckoo clock started doing its thing.   The client explained to me that since most meetings start on the hour, and the boss believed that no meeting should go more than one hour and to remind people of that he put a cuckoo clock in the conference room.   Very original idea, one that I would recommend for all places."

"I was invited to a meeting with 40-50 people by the Chairman. You don't turn that down. But I didn't know a soul and wondered what I was doing there since this was all about one of our non-pension areas. As I determined later, turns out it was a person with the same name as me that was intended to be invited. Meanwhile all these folks were treating me with great deference . . . they thought I might be a new hire brought in to run their area."

"It's not that the meetings are a waste of time - it's the timing of the meetings."

"Just a comment...our company banned meetings on Fridays. Guess what? I have two standing Friday meetings."

"Gosh...you ask on a day that I attend a staff meeting. Typically, my boss leads us into detail on manufacturing variances which apply to 3 of the 12 people in the room. There is dozing off, yawning, doodling and a lot of fidgeting going on until we are released."

But this week's Editor's Choice goes to the reader who said, "I'm not good at small talk, so things usually get done in my meetings."

Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey!

I'm sick and tired of consultants and authors saying that meetings are unproductive. The MOST productive thing we do are our meetings!!!
The 401k Trustee Committee meetings. They could be run in half the time, if the Board members who attend would not go off on tangents that are really irrelevant or insignificant, or if the concept of forfeitures didn't have to be explained each time.
I belong to a professional organization that holds several meetings a month. Every once in awhile we get a speaker who uses the podium to push his political views. Living in Rick Perry's state that wants to seccede from the union, you can imagine what those views are. I finally had to complain profusely. Just because I live here doesn't mean I subscribe to those red-neck, bigoted, bible thumping 1860's attitudes. Some of us here in Texas ARE civilized.
And especially the ones that create 'opportunities' to propose 'changes' that one knows will not be suitable in the eyes of the final decision makers. So much time is wasted on drafting needless, lenghty proposals for others to shoot down. What ever happened to someone saying 'give it a try and see' without all the details?
If the founder of our company starts to go on and on about a subject, we give him a few minutes of leeway. But since he is my dad, I am able to cut him off (nicely) and get back to the topics at hand.
Waiting for people to stop using their Crackberries/laptops/cell phones is a HUGE time waster. Repeating info due to the previous sentence.
Mercer was the worst. Whole days of meetings. you only have whole days of meetings when you don't get thnigs done in shroter meetings. And I get headaches when I don't get some fresh air. This company's meetings are much tighter - and fewer - 'cause I run 1/2 of them.
if there is no clear objective, agenda, timeframe or expected result communicated, I defer or ask that these terms be set.
We have a staff meeting every week. We send out a status report prior to the meeting. Why have a meeting I ask you, when everyone knows what the other has done for the past week.
It's not that the meetings are a waste of time - it's the timing of the meetings.
Regularly scheduled meetings that status everything everyone is supposed to be doing on a project. An email summary would suffice.
The periocally scheduled meetings (daily, weekly, monthly) where the same topics are resurrected then beaten to death yet again.
Management meetings every morning; all they do is give people a chance to open their mouths...and say nothing
Most are just blather.
I avoid certain meetings because I know they are time-wasters, and only attend those that I judge will be productive.
Wasting times meeting with vendors for services we know good and well we can't afford or wouldn't take the time to implement.
Just a comment...our company banned meetings on Fridays. Guess what? I have two standing Friday meetings.
We are a sales organization! It's screamed from the top...and yet, Mondays and Fridays are full of briefs, debriefs, rebriefs, reviews, analysis, exit and barrier talk and all the while...I have calls to return, business to close, clients to see and my health to look at occassionally. Pfffttssss.....anything you need to say should be said in 5 minutes or less..if not...you aren't really saying anything, your just talking to hear yourself talk. Unless I am in front of a client, it's pretty much a waste...unless my assistant says I need to go...well...then I go.
Every meeting is a waste of time unless I am running them. lol
We have monthly department meetings, monthly meetings with the department heads to hear updates on the company, monthly meetings with payroll, monthly "optional" lunch meetings with our group, and monthly one-on-one meetings with our direct boss. In addition we have weekly meetings with our recordkeeper. In addition to these regularly scheduled meets, at least once a week a meeting is thrown at us. They can serve a useful purpose but, if going to the meeting keeps me from doing my job, it's a time waster.
The weekly staff meeting is a 2-hour long exercise in futility as we listen to our boss prattle on about so-called projects of importance and gives us an opportunity to update the team on things they already know about.
Many of the meetings that I go to are about the same thing. Cash, or the lack of it to be more precise. Nothing changes.
I particularly hate trainings that I have been to before, or attended something similar, but I have to attend again because it has to be checked off on "the matrix" (insert dramatic music here...) The touchy-feely corporate - we're doing great! - meetings not only feel like a waste of time during the meeting, but seem really ridiculous now in hindsight.
Not really expanding - I would only point out that the "wasting time meetings percentage" would be higher except that I no longer attend all of them!
WEEKLY OFFICE MEETINGS
I was invited to a meeting with 40-50 people by the Chairman. You don't turn that down. But I didn't know a soul and wondered what I was doing there since this was all about one of our non-pension areas. As I determined later, turns out it was a person with the same name as me that was intended to be invited. Meanwhile all these folks were treating me with great deference . . . they thought I might be a new hire brought in to run their area.
Sometimes it's the people involved who don't know when to zip it. Other times it's the subject matter, and the concept needs a DNR.
Being a telecommuter I can selectively get involved in conference calls/meetings -- few are a waste of time because it takes effort to set up a call -in number or webcast. When I go into the office (only about 6 times a year since the commute is over 1,200 miles) the meetings I get involved in are very meaningful and productive because they are planned well in advance for a specific purpose. When I worked in an office everyday there were many more meeting invites. Telecommuting is productive in many ways, this is one good example.
Gosh...you ask on a day that I attend a staff meeting. Typically, my boss leads us into detail on manufacturing variances which apply to 3 of the 12 people in the room. There is dozing off, yawning, doodling and alot of fidgeting going on until we are released.
When prospective consulting firms pitch their services and pontificate over various ways to help us save money on health care. The meetings themselves are not a complete waste, but the portion of time they spend covering overall trends, survey results, demographic analysis, and canned presentations are wasted. However, since we've found several 'diamonds in the rough' in these meetings, we schedule them anyway.
I can't stand the meeting to plan the meeting
We never have ANY meetings. Therefore, no one ever knows what is going on, there is no communication, the same job is being done by various people for a duplication of duties and work. We are a small company, less than 50 people. Communication is VERY important. It is extremely bad for moral if everyone is in the dark and no one knows what is going on!
In general, I feel that meetings are beneficial even if our objective is not necessarily completed. It is very important to keep teams on the same page and up to speed on projects, or to check in with providers to get status updates. Without meetings, you may be getting a ton of work done in your own mind, but whose to say it is the right work, the most productive or helpful, or in the right direction, or still necessary?
But only because we are performing two major implementations and most of my meetings involve that project with the vendors.
Sometimes I feel our company has meetings to create meetings for other times and dates.
While I detest meetings, I have to admit that I find value in many of them. There will be some nugget of information or some connection made that I learn later was important. We work hard here to ensure meetings have agendas and we stick to them and end on time (or earlier). It's very easy to say meetings are timewasters so let's eliminate them, there is no way you can. The focus instead should be on how to conduct effective meetings that produce good results. Ok, you can call me pollyanna (though my name is Julie). 🙂
A previous manager held regular staff meetings that kept us all up to date with the big picture. Now it seems everything is on a need to know basis and we have many more meetings dealing with how to fix problems that arose because not all the people that needed information had access to it.
Most of the meetings, particularly "Staff Meetings" have no structure or agenda. Members are allowed to use the time to discuss topics which should be addressed one on one with their managers rather than in a larger forum. Most of the "bosses" I have worked for have no idea how to "Manage".
Our president calls meetings occasionally and wants my presence but I usually don't say a word. I now attend a weekly department meeting (not my official department) that is valuable to know what is going on with other members of the team and our clients. My actual "boss" is in another department and never talks to me, so we get along fine and I have never been part of his department meetings.
My favorite is always the "pre-meeting meeting" where you meet to discuss what you are going to meet about.
By definition, meetings are not working time, they are talking time. While you are meeting you are not working, therefore you fall behind. The vast majority of meetings are "busywork" meant to make some individuals look busy while others squirm.
I'm afraid I'd have to say that my boss's staff meetings are the biggest waste of time. He allows him self to be interrupted constantly during those meetings by his Admin, his cell phone, visitors, etc., then we all wait for him to come back. In addition, he always wants to go over our metrics, so we have constantly re-educate him on why the numbers are meaningful.
Some years ago, I was assigned to the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon. The Army two-star general who headed our agency used to have stand-up meetings--no one, including him, sat down. Those meetings never dragged on.
Weekly department meetings are the worst: Everyone takes their turn in telling what they are working on or what projects they are involved in. We all sit in the same room - there is never any new information in the meeting.
There's always some time wasting, but some chit-chat actually helps everyone to relax and get comfortable. Most meetings are called for a specific reason and time frame and actually adhere to the schedule & agenda, surprisingly enough
I have noticed a real shift in the last 3 years or so to online/telephonic meetings (webex type and conference calls). For some reason I think people are much more respectful of time during these types of meetings, and don't feel as obligated to "wait for everyone". I remember those dreadful hours long face-to-face meetings with 15 people in a room (that were only supposed to be an hour) that were the equivalent of corporate waterboarding, but at least in my case I attend very few of those any more.
I don't attend many meetings but my boss is always in one. It means he doesn't have the time he needs to keep up with his work.
Many of the meetings I attend waste about 20% of its scheduled time; the 'leaders' don't know how to run/facilitate a meeting to accomplish what they want.
Staff meetings. It's information that we either don't need, already know, or can be sent out via e-mail. Stuff like, "In a couple of months, we're going to implement the following...." So? Tell me WHEN it happens, not that it's going to happen in the future!
Actually, it's not the meetings themselves that waste time, it's that 10 minutes before waiting for all of the people who think they're too important to be there on time. Not to mention the 10 minutes at the end of the meeting when everyone is talking about what they watched on TV last night.
It's our annual benefits renewal time

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