Docket is a meeting-focused workspace for collaborative agenda creation, decision documentation, and action item tracking.
In the United States, 55 million meetings are held every week. With the added complications of remote work and video conferencing, ineffective meetings remain one of the most frustrating killers of productivity today. A 2019 study estimated that more than $37 billion is wasted due to bad meetings every year.
Use your schedule to understand better how much poor meetings may be costing you and your team.
71% of professionals lose time every week due to unnecessary or meandering meetings.
45% of employees feel overwhelmed by the number of meetings they attend.
62% of employees believe meetings miss the opportunity to bring people closer.
“Docket has quickly become essential to doing our best work at Studio Science. Meetings are critically important to the services we provide clients, and having a platform dedicated to making meetings more effective, collaborative, and structured is game changing.”
Steve Pruden, CEO at Studio Science
It’s hard to discount–meetings are essential to the rapid pace of day-to-day operations. You need to bring every member of the team together so that they can discuss their progress, bring forward any questions or concerns, and make sure that every member is on the same page. If any members might not be heading in the proper direction, this is a chance to make sure that appropriate redirection is provided before people get too far off course and deadlines are missed. At the same time, meetings have to be productive. The cost of unproductive meetings can be high. How can you make sure that your meetings are as productive as possible? What are some of the factors that define unproductive meetings?
Everyone has been in an unproductive meeting at some point. This is the type of meeting with people reaching for their phones as soon as they enter the room, wondering how much longer it will be until the meeting comes to an end. The reality is that if people are just sitting there on their phones waiting for the meeting to end, this is costly.
The cost of unproductive meetings is significant. When thinking about the cost of ineffective meetings, it is important to think about the amount of wasted time. Even if a meeting only takes an hour, this removes an hour of production from every single member of the team who is present in that room. Think about how many people regularly come to meetings. If thirty people show up for that ineffective and unproductive meeting, thirty hours of work has just been wasted. This is why it is crucial to avoid unproductive meetings as much as possible.
When looking at the cost of inefficient meetings, it is also essential to think about the wasted money that contributes to these meetings. While there might be a small direct cost that accompanies food and materials meetings, the real monetary cost comes in the form of lost production. Think about how often these meetings take place. Then, think about the total amount of time wasted once again. Over the course of a project, the amount of wasted time might translate into a lost client. This is just another way in which bad meetings could lead to a waste of money.
Finally, another area where the cost of bad meetings is realized comes in the form of lost resources. It takes a lot of resources to put a meeting together. These are resources that could have been used elsewhere. This is why everyone needs to prevent their team members from thinking that these meetings are a waste of time. That is where effective meeting guidelines are key.
When it comes to making sure meetings are as effective as possible, there are a few key points to keep in mind. Having proper guidelines can help you make sure that everyone gets as much out of their meetings as possible. These guidelines include:
Purpose: Never try to have a meeting unless there is a clear reason why that meeting is necessary. Having meetings solely for the sake of getting people together is pointless. This will only irritate those who are present because they will know that their time is being wasted. Make sure that there is a clear purpose that has been stated for every meeting.
Agenda: Next, make sure that every meeting has a written agenda. Ideally, this is an agenda that will be shared ahead of time. This will give everyone a chance to prepare for the meeting. Then, once the meeting starts, it will run as smoothly as possible. This will make sure that every meeting is efficient and that every minute is spent productively.
Summary: There is a chance that not everyone is going to make it to the meeting. Furthermore, there are also going to be times when people will want to refer back to the meeting to make sure they did not miss anything. This is where written notes or minutes are important for each meeting. These notes will go a long way toward making sure that everyone is on the same page.
Of course, make sure that these minutes are shared with everyone for transparency and clarity. These minutes are an essential part of making sure that these meetings are as productive as possible. Following these points will ensure that meeting guidelines keep everyone on the same page, ensuring each gathering’s productivity.
As long as productive meetings are held, their frequency will be minimized naturally. To reduce the number of meetings, start by publishing basic ground rules for the team. These guidelines for effective meetings should include basic information on the productivity of meetings and why ineffective meetings should be avoided. When people know what the ground rules are, meetings will run fewer and smoother.
Furthermore, consider requiring meetings to include a written goal or agenda. Then, try to make sure that all meeting notes are stored in the same place. This will allow everyone to find information from these meetings quickly and efficiently. The goal of meetings is to make sure that time is spent wisely. This means that all wasted time should be minimized. When time is spent wisely, the rate at which meetings occur can be reduced. This provides everyone with more time to spend working on their projects, which translates into met deadlines and improved revenue. When you think about, “how much do bad meetings cost?” you realize that the true cost comes in the form of wasted time. By reducing meetings in the workplace and increasing each meeting’s productivity, time is saved, and overhead costs are reduced.
There are a lot of people who are wondering, “how long should meetings last?” Unsurprisingly, the answer to this question is that it depends. First, it depends on the purpose of the meeting. Some topics take longer to discuss than others. There is a balance between meeting length vs. effectiveness, so the more complicated the purpose, the longer the meeting will last.
Of course, research on meetings has shown that people can only pay attention for so long. This means that if the meeting starts to run long, people might stop paying attention. This reduces the effectiveness of the meeting. Therefore, it is important to try to limit the length of sessions to around 45 minutes. If the topic is complex and requires further discussion, consider dividing this meeting into two or more separate meetings.
Another factor to consider involves the number of meetings that are held during the day. Ask the question,” how many meetings are held each day?” If many meetings are being held during the day, try to keep this meeting to around 15 minutes. If the meeting only occurs once per week, think about stretching it out to thirty minutes. Finally, if the meeting only takes place once per month, then the length can be stretched out even more.
As a general rule, you should be able to cut down on the length of the meeting as long as the agenda is distributed ahead of time. This will give everyone the chance to prepare their information in advance. Then, once the meeting starts, it should run like a well-oiled machine. Jump straight into questions and discussions to make sure that every minute is spent wisely.
Everyone would like to find a way to stop attending bad meetings. These are meetings where people show up and feel like nothing gets done. It is as if people are on their phones the entire time playing games or talking with their friends. Therefore, if the guidelines above are followed, then bad meetings should be eliminated naturally.
First, if there is not a clear goal of the meeting, then do not go. All meetings need to have a stated purpose. If there is no purpose for the meeting, then it is likely a waste of time. Do not go.
Next, if there is no agenda to the meeting that has been distributed, ask to see one. If there is no agenda, then it is time to cancel or postpone the meeting until an agenda has been made. Everyone who attends the meeting has to be prepared, or time is going to be wasted.
Finally, ask how notes are going to be taken for the meeting. If there is nobody there taking notes, how will people keep up with what is being discussed? Action items and next steps need to be shared with the rest of the team if the department is going to be able to capitalize on what is discussed during the meeting. This will prevent the need for a follow-up meeting. Follow these steps to avoid bad meetings from taking place. Time needs to be spent wisely, and these guidelines can ensure that it is for you and your team.
