Workers urge shorter meetings to boost productivity

As reported by Lancashire Times, office workers are calling for shorter meetings to improve productivity and reduce time wasted in unproductive catchups, with research highlighting the need for a more efficient meeting culture.

Research from Brother UK polled 2,000 UK office workers and found that more than half (55%) complained they waste too much time in meetings, with a similar proportion (57%) saying they only attend a useful meeting once a week.

Four in five (81%) are confident that shorter calls and catchups would achieve the same outcomes, creating more time to deliver their responsibilities, according to the findings.

Respondents cited waffling (59%), too much small talk (48%), late joiners (31%) and people not paying attention (31%) as the worst culprits for timewasting, with more than a third (43%) convinced that colleagues try and do other work during most meetings.

The research, from Brother UK’s Meaningful Meeting Manifesto, also uncovered a poor standard of meeting facilitation. More than half of the respondents (53%) said they attend too many unengaging and poorly structured meetings, with this figure rising to 67% among remote workers.

Phil Jones MBE, managing director at Brother UK, said:
“It’s clear that the UK’s meeting culture still heavily contributes to workplace productivity. Bringing people together will always be an important part of culture, problem-solving, building relationships and developing new customers. Many meetings could be shorter and provide people with more free time to focus on delivery.

“Our findings also uncovered that meetings that overrun and waste time have a negative impact on our morale and attitudes at work. Half of the respondents (54%) admitted that they feel frustrated, with 27% feeling demotivated and 25% going as far to say they think less of their colleagues.

“There is still work to do to right the UK’s meeting culture, even in our own business. Greater consideration on time, place and how to better facilitate calls and catchups will help nurture more productive meetings, more often.”

When asked when respondents feel most productive in a meeting, the majority (87%) say they are at their best before midday, with 9am-11am the most productive period.