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Meetingitis is a problem afflicting many companies today. If you've ever experienced a week punctuated by more than 20 hours of meetings, you understand how much of a nightmare it can become, especially when you're looking to immerse yourself in tasks requiring concentration.
It has been proven that it takes an average of 23 minutes to refocus after a distraction, which makes frequent interruptions to meetings even more worrying.
In this article, we'll take an in-depth look at reunionitis, where it originates in the workplace, why companies need to plan intelligently against it and our five practical tips for combating it.
Meetingitis, a scourge that may seem minor at first glance, is actually a considerable problem in many companies. It reflects the overabundance of unproductive meetings that are becoming the norm in many working environments. It may seem trivial, but the costs associated with this phenomenon are anything but negligible.
Philippe Silberzahn, a researcher at the École Polytechnique and a specialist in the transformation of companies faced with uncertainty and disruption, shed welcome light on the extent of reunionitis. His research and observations highlighted the extent to which many companies are struggling to find effective solutions to alleviate this scourge.
This problem takes on even greater significance when viewed from the angle of the associated costs. It is directly linked to a major cost center within organizations: human resources. To get an idea of the financial impact of reunionitis, let's take a concrete example: a company with 200 employees, where each employee spends an average of 2 hours in meetings every week. The cost of these inefficient meetings amounts to over a million euros for the company at the end of the year. Imagine what this sum could represent if it were invested more wisely in projects or initiatives that would benefit the company.
It's essential to be aware of the scale of the costs associated with meeting fatigue, and the negative impact it can have on a company's overall profitability and productivity. These costs go far beyond the hours spent in the meeting room. They also include lost opportunities, project delays, employee frustration and reduced operational efficiency.
Philippe Silberzahn has identified two root causes of meeting fatigue:
Fear of failure is one of the most pervasive root causes of meeting fatigue in business. It's based on a seemingly rational idea: meetings are a way of ensuring that the team communicates sufficiently to avoid embarking on a project that could potentially lead the company straight into the wall. With this in mind, team members meet frequently to discuss various aspects of the project in detail, and to make collective decisions.
However, this approach, while well-intentioned, can have perverse effects on overall efficiency. In fact, too many meetings can slow progress and hamper productivity. Here's why:
First of all, meetings consume precious time. Hours spent in meetings are hours wasted on real tasks. Frequent interruptions due to meetings fragment the working day, requiring longer periods to dive back effectively into complex tasks, asresearch suggests that it takes an average of 23 minutes to regain optimal concentration after a distraction.
Secondly, the multiplication of meetings can lead to an uneven distribution of time and attention. Projects that require special attention and careful thought may take a back seat to less crucial meetings. This can create an imbalance in the management of time and energy, with adverse consequences for the quality of the work accomplished.
What's more, decisions taken at meetings can sometimes be influenced by political or emotional considerations rather than by criteria strictly based on data and facts. This dynamic can lead to sub-optimal decision-making, or to projects moving in the wrong direction.
The sense of frustration and wasted time generated by excessive meetings can have a negative impact on employee motivation and commitment. They may feel less valued and invested in their work, which can lead to lower productivity and job satisfaction.
Finally, the fear of failure, while it may seem a valid justification for frequent meetings, can have deleterious consequences on business efficiency and productivity. It's essential to strike a balance between the communication needed to avoid mistakes and the damaging effects of meeting fatigue. Solutions must aim to maximize productive working time, promote informed decision-making and maintain employee motivation at the highest level.
The need for protection is another important facet of corporate reunionitis. It stems from the perception that receiving real-time feedback from colleagues during meetings is often more reassuring than waiting for asynchronous feedback. This preference for real-time feedback can be explained by several factors.
Firstly, face-to-face communication is generally perceived as more direct and personal. When a colleague gives feedback face-to-face, they can express themselves in a more nuanced way, explain their views and respond immediately to questions or concerns. This immediate interactivity creates a sense of closeness and mutual understanding that can be comforting for those who need to feel supported in their work.
What's more, real-time feedback often enables problems or misunderstandings to be resolved quickly. When questions or concerns arise during a meeting, they can be dealt with immediately, preventing potential problems from escalating or disrupting subsequent work. This responsiveness can reinforce the team's sense of security.
However, it's important to note that the preference for real-time feedback can also have its drawbacks. It can encourage frequent interruptions and an overabundance of meetings, which can lead to disruptions in concentration and productivity. In addition, immediate feedback can sometimes be emotionally charged, which can complicate communication in the event of disagreements or critical feedback.
To mitigate the need for protection while maintaining effective communication, it's essential to strike a balance between real-time and asynchronous feedback. Digital communication tools, such as online collaboration platforms and project management tools, can facilitate asynchronous communication while allowing team members to take the time they need to formulate thoughtful responses.
This need for protection, which leads to a preference for real-time feedback, is another factor contributing to corporate reunionitis. While this preference may offer some comfort, it can also lead to disruption and inefficiency. Striking the right balance between real-time and asynchronous communication is essential to maximize productivity, while meeting the needs of those who seek personal support in their work.
To combat reunionitis effectively, it's essential to tackle the underlying problems. Here are five practical tips to help you do just that:
Rethinking your approach to meetings is a crucial step in the fight against meeting fatigue. Instead of scheduling meetings by default, it's essential to ask yourself whether they are really necessary. This proactive thinking can lead to significant benefits for your organization.
A first step is to consider alternatives to traditional meetings. For example, for routine updates or simple communications, written messages can often suffice. Instant messaging tools, e-mail or internal communication platforms can be used to share information effectively without the need for a face-to-face meeting.
What's more, quick calls can be a valuable alternative to formal meetings. If a discussion requires quick clarification or an immediate response, a short phone call or video conference can be more relevant and less time-consuming than a larger meeting.
For projects, project management tools such as task tracking systems and project management platforms can play a key role in reducing the need for frequent meetings. Relevant information can be documented and shared via these tools, enabling team members to track progress and collaborate asynchronously.
Finally, the use of video recordings, such as Loom, can also be an effective strategy for sharing information in a visual and engaging way. These recordings can be viewed at any time by team members, eliminating the need to coordinate time slots for live meetings.
By adopting these alternative approaches, you can reduce the number of non-essential meetings, enabling your team to save time and focus on more productive tasks. This will help reduce meeting fatigue and improve your company's overall efficiency.
Setting a clear meeting agenda is a fundamental step in making meetings more effective and combating meeting fatigue. When you take the initiative to organize a meeting, it's essential to define clear, specific objectives for that particular meeting. This practice helps focus the discussion on concrete results and ensures that each participant understands the overall objective of the meeting.
By sharing this agenda with participants before the meeting, you enable everyone to prepare adequately and make relevant contributions. This reduces the risk of discussion drift and time wasted on irrelevant discussions.
Ultimately, a clear meeting agenda helps to keep the meeting on track, maximize its efficiency and effectively combat meeting fatigue by ensuring that time spent in meetings is used productively to achieve specific objectives.
This is something we strive to make accessible with Rolebase by providing access to meeting templates:
We wanted to provide teams with an easy-to-follow framework to make their organization as easy as possible.
Limiting the length of meetings is an essential practice for combating meeting fatigue and boosting business productivity. An effective meeting doesn't need to extend unnecessarily over a long period of time. On the contrary, by setting strict time limits, you encourage concentration, relevance and efficiency within the team.
It takes 52 minutes on average for employees to drop out of a meeting, lose concentration and become distracted. As a result, they find themselves replying to asynchronous messages while half concentrating. It's the worst of both worlds.
It's important to recognize that time is a precious resource for everyone involved in a meeting. Each of their minutes is a resource that could be used to accomplish tasks, make decisions or move forward on projects. Therefore, respecting each other's time is a sign of mutual respect and effective resource management.
When planning the meeting, carefully assess the content to be discussed and determine the time needed to adequately address each point. If a topic can be covered in 30 minutes instead of an hour, don't hesitate to shorten the meeting accordingly. Make sure the agenda is clear and that discussions remain focused on the essential points.
To maintain time discipline during the meeting, appoint a timekeeper (we call him/her the facilitator) or use a timer to ensure that each discussion point is dealt with within the allotted time. By setting strict time limits, you encourage participants to focus on priorities, avoid digressions and maximize meeting efficiency.
Often, overrunning a meeting will cause the next one to fall behind, triggering a kind of snowball effect.
Ultimately, limiting the length of meetings saves valuable time, keeps participants engaged and reduces the frustration associated with interminable meetings. This practice fosters a culture of respect for time within the organization, and helps combat reunionitis by promoting more efficient and focused meetings.
Inviting the right people to a meeting is a crucial step in avoiding meeting fatigue and ensuring that every meeting is productive. It's essential to ensure that only those people whose presence is required are invited, to avoid wasting time and resources.
However, determining who is relevant to a given topic can be tricky, especially when areas of expertise overlap or when input requirements vary. To avoid unintentionally excluding important stakeholders, it helps to establish a corporate culture that encourages transparency and flexibility.
It can be beneficial to create internal guidelines or policies to make it clear that it is acceptable for participants to leave a meeting if they feel they are not adding value to a given topic. This enables participants to make informed decisions about their attendance and promotes a more efficient approach to meetings.
In addition, the notion of circles and circle leaders, as mentioned, can prove invaluable. This approach makes it possible to specifically bring together the people involved in a particular project or initiative, thus ensuring the relevance of each participant's presence. By avoiding the planning of unnecessary meetings and optimizing the composition of work teams, this approach greatly contributes to the fight against réunionite.
Ultimately, inviting the right people to a meeting is a fine balance to strike, but with the right practices and corporate culture in place, it's possible to maximize the value of meetings while avoiding the inconvenience of unwarranted attendance.
Appointing a facilitator is an effective strategy for improving meeting management and combating meeting fatigue. The facilitator's role is to ensure that the meeting runs smoothly, efficiently and on time. Here's how a facilitator can contribute to more productive meetings:
By appointing a skilled facilitator, you can dramatically improve your meeting management, reduce meeting fatigue and ensure that every meeting is a productive investment of time for all participants. This approach contributes to better use of company resources and a more effective meeting culture.
Role Based Management offers an innovative approach to managing roles, responsibilities and collaboration within your organization. By assigning clearly defined roles, facilitating meetings and structuring actions to be taken, RBM promotes transparent governance and informed decision-making.
It's a good way of accompanying change to create an organizational structure where people feel comfortable collaborating and use meetings strategically to create value.
