With productivity making the headlines, new research has shown Australian employees waste up to three hours each week in unnecessary meetings.
Office supplies company COS commissioned the research which found that two-thirds (66 percent) of survey respondents said they regularly spent time in unnecessary meetings.
Co-CEO Belinda Lyone said the average number of hours people reported spending unnecessarily in meetings was three hours a week.
“That totals a significant 144 hours a year, which equates to almost four working weeks,” Ms Lyone said.
With Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stating productivity would be a focus of the next three-year term, the survey found employers and business owners were substantially less likely to spend hours in avoidable meetings compared to staff (42 percent compared to 66 percent).
Ms Lyone said some respondents commented they weren’t aware of how to assess the importance of attending each meeting, or didn’t have the confidence to opt out.
She said as the new financial year loomed, it was a period when many business leaders were looking for ways to help their teams become more productive.
“This study highlights how a significant number of hours are being spent on team members attending meetings that could instead be allocated to more productive tasks. This not only costs the company money but can also lead to frustration.”
Ms Lyone said ways to improve meeting efficiency included creating a meeting charter which included no meetings before 9.30am, no meetings between 12.30pm and 1.30pm to allow ample time for lunch, and no meetings after 4pm so teams knew they had blocks of time during their work hours to focus on tasks.
She said her company also had a “no meetings Thursday” policy, and there were no cross-functional meetings during school holidays to respect the pressures of working parents and avoid adding to the “parent guilt” by scheduling major meetings during this period.
“Most companies seem to allocate an hour for standard meetings; however, at COS, this has been changed to 45 minutes to allow for breaks between meetings.
“What works best for COS is that the person who creates the meeting must in advance issue the background, purpose, and required outcomes for the meeting.”
Ms Lyone said permission must be given to opt out.
“Similarly to the research, our team found that often team members weren’t sure if they were permitted to decline a meeting.
“Emphasising that team members can opt out or send a substitute who can make decisions on their behalf also empowers staff to make smart decisions about their time.”
