A study released in 2012 brought to light that professionals lose 31 hours per month on unproductive meetings. Think about that. Four work days per month are wasted!
Another study found that 73% of professionals admit to working on something unrelated to the meeting during the meeting. Why bother even going?
So what are these unproductive meetings costing? Well, time obviously. But what about the money that is drifting away? Check out this calculator to find out how much money your meetings are costing you. I found that if a group of 8 with an average salary of $50K meet for an hour twice per week it costs $23,111 per year. If the meetings are pointless, that money might as well be lit on fire.
7 Tips for More Productive Meetings:
- When sending an invite for a meeting, provide the agenda and let the attendees know what they will need to come prepared
- Always attend a meeting prepared – know your facts, have all your info at hand and be ready to discuss the topic
- State the purpose of the meeting at the start – remind people why they are there and let them know what needs to be accomplished over the next hour
- Meetings are for collaboration – don’t let it turn into a one sided conversation
- Facilitate the focus – hold meetings in quiet rooms free of distraction and ban electronic devices when they aren’t needed
- Be mindful of people’s time – keep meetings as short as possible and don’t let the meeting run over the scheduled time
- Wrap it up! When the meeting is coming to a close the leader should give a brief summary of what was accomplished. Also, during this time it’s a good idea for everyone to share their action items they are now committed to completing. This practice allows everyone to know what the plan is going forward, and it makes sure none of the action items are forgotten.