Are you having too many meetings?

Why do we have too many meetings?

Let’s look at the problem first. We’ve distilled 5 reasons for too many meetings at the workplace.

Reason Number 1: Meetings are easy

If I need to exchange information from a to b, I can use text, video or phone to deliver my message. Most people are not comfortable writing text or recording videos. Meetings are the easy way out and for the majority of people, they work really well.

Reason Number 2: People like Meetings

Yes, people actually like meetings. Have you ever had the chance to work a couple of days completely without any meetings? If so, you might know that it will get “boring”. Social interaction is a key part of doing work. Besides that, people are often unsecure. With meetings, they can get immediate feedback from their managers and avoid mistakes. Lastly, meetings make you feel productive even when you are not. This is an easy way out for many people.

Reason Number 3: Managers like Meetings

Meetings remain an effective control mechanism. Some managers perceive conducting meetings as a core aspect of their role, believing it’s integral to effective leadership. These managers rely on meetings for crucial insights and decision-making. However, they may not be aware of alternative management methods or fear excluding team members.

Reason Number 4: Meetings are the Standard

Meetings have been there for a long time. And they won’t go away anywhere soon. Without meetings, it wouldn’t be possible to run a company (for most people). However, if there are too many meetings within a company, it can kill the entire productivity. Many organizations default to scheduling meetings for any issue, big or small, without considering alternative communication methods like emails, memos, or messaging platforms. Many managers and employees are not trained in running efficient, effective meetings. As a result, meetings can often be unstructured, lack clear objectives, or go off-topic, leading to wasted time and resources.

Reason Number 4: Culture

Over-Inclusiveness, status, cultural mix-up between being busy and being productive, resistance to change and learn new ways of working, Lack of Autonomy and Empowerment, you name it.

There are many reasons why we have too many meetings and there is no simple solution to solve them. One of the big problems with meeting culture is, that there is nobody responsible for meeting efficiency. Nobody is measuring it, nobody is solving it. The CEO has many other problems at the top of his to-do list.

Conclusion

That’s it for part 1 of our series. What have we learned?

Having too many meetings is a complex issue which can be tackled from different angles. However, a behavioral change within a (bigger) organization is unlikely to happen.