Small mistake, high price: That’s how expensive inefficient meetings are

Studies have shown that the number of meetings in everyday working life has increased significantly over the past 40 years. As important as the meetings between colleagues or with the boss are, one would think that meetings should be made as meaningful as possible. But on the contrary: A study by psychologist Steven Rogelberg from the University of North California comes to the conclusion that companies in the USA alone lose a total of 37 billion US dollars a year due to small mistakes in their meetings. The expert explains what everyday little things these are and how meetings can be better designed.

Small mistakes also affect work outside of the meeting

Rogelberg explains to the specialist magazine “Monitor of Psychology” that after an annoying or strenuous meeting, in most cases the first thing the employees do is to have a private conversation with their colleagues – i.e. not to work, but to let their frustration out. This not only eats up paid working time: the frustration and negative mood quickly spread to other areas of work, so that efficiency drops here too. The result: high financial losses.

One of the worst mistakes is being late for a meeting – for both managers and employees. Because in a study, Rogelberg was able to find out that if you are only five or ten minutes late, the satisfaction, efficiency and productivity of all participants during the meeting “decreases dramatically”. Being late shows disrespect for colleagues. Rogelberg’s colleague Wallace Dixon from East Tennessee State University therefore explains to the Monitor of Psychology that meetings should always start and end exactly at the planned time.

Unprepared, distracted, passive – these three factors lead to dissatisfaction

If you show up to the meeting on time but unprepared, you also generate high costs. Bad preparation not only means that you have to explain things twice and that your colleagues are unnecessarily distracted from their work – it also bores and frustrates the other participants. Either the meeting is longer than planned due to the repeated explanation of a topic, or not all important topics can be discussed. Both severely limit the efficiency of all employees. The same applies to distracted employees who, for example, play games on their cell phones or write emails instead of listening and miss important information. Apart from the fact that meetings are already more efficient when everyone appears prepared and listens well, active participation has another positive effect: According to the Monitor of Psychology, Dixon was able to find that everyone involved left a meeting significantly happier (and therefore more motivated). , if they get involved and maybe even have a say in decision-making. It is therefore advisable not to set up the meeting as a frontal lesson, but to promote the exchange. Managers also benefit from this: Those who not only talk themselves, but also listen to others, ultimately learn the most and can start the next working day with new input. Coordination in the team is not recommended if there is a disagreement between two employees about a course of action. Such votes injure the ego and lead to a bad mood even after the meeting.

Absolute no-go: open-end events

Last but not least, Rogelberg strongly advises against open-end meetings: These are real time wasters and are often responsible for frustration at work. In addition, it is difficult to maintain attention. His recommendation is therefore to avoid one-hour meetings every week and hold shorter meetings more often instead. This may take a little more time, but is much more effective.

Editorial office finanzen.net

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