A survey in 2017 revealed that 83% of employees found their meetings to be unnecessary and unproductive.
Meetings are a necessity of a workplace and you as administrators might feel enthusiastic and excited to share the newest development in your business. However, your employees might not share the same motivation if the meetings commence daily and go on for hours. On the flip side, if the sessions seem endless you also feel burned out and your once creative ideas are turned to dust.
If the situation sounds familiar, here are some ways to deal with meeting overload.
What Is Meeting Overload?
As the name suggests meeting overload refers to the overload of meetings. Excessive meetings or prolonged sessions can eat away at both your and your employee's work-life balance. Additionally, having too many meetings on your calendar not only suffocates your productivity but also affects your job duties.
A potential contributor to the upsurging concern of meeting overload is the digital era. Employees of today endure a trifecta of meetings that are poorly timed, too frequent, or even badly run. While some believe the situation is the result of increasing remote and hybrid working models, administrators feel it to be a blessing as they can easily connect with their staff anytime anywhere. This clash of perspectives often ruins workspace dynamics.
Consequences Of Meeting Overload
Here are some consequences of meeting overload:
- After the onset of the pandemic, many businesses pivoted to a hybrid or remote work model which resulted in increased working hours and many employees were prone to working overtime.
- Managers and administrators spent endless hours conducting and attending meetings and coordinating activities which decreased productivity.
- It incurs significant money for the company in the long run as the higher the employee’s salary, the more money it costs the company for taking these meetings.
- Excessive meetings take a toll on employee well-being and create a feeling of frustration and annoyance ultimately resulting in their unhappiness.
4 Tips To Deal With Meeting Overload
If you are someone who spends a disproportionate amount of time in meetings, here are some ways to mitigate the overload:
- Decide If Meetings Are Really Necessary
Not all meetings conducted by you are necessary for all the members of the organization to attend. Additionally, there might be certain instances when communication can be done via a call or mail rather than conducting a meeting.
Reducing your session frequency and limiting the participants will ease the burden of meeting overload while allowing them time to complete other duties. Define roles and flesh out responsibilities to determine who should and shouldn’t attend the meeting, rather than inviting the whole organization.
- Limit Your Meeting Timings
Try not to extend your meetings more than 30-45 minutes for general topics and 1 hour for topics related to training and development. Allow your members to take breaks in between to digest the information, think and relax.
Scheduling shorter meetings will allow you to have a more focused and attentive audience. Moreover, they will realize the importance of the session and work according to your expectations.
- Block Your Calendar
If you find your employees are constantly revolting against frequent meetings, it is time to block out your calendar. Take a step back and save yourself some time to focus on other essential work. This allows you to maintain your sanity and peace within the organization while getting all the tasks done within deadlines.
This will also allow you to push the meetings into smaller buckets of time so that you have a chunk of your day free to be more productive and effective in the other segments.
- Find Different Alternatives
Not every communication needs to be carried out in the form of a full-fledged meeting. If you are sharing a quick recap about the accounted tasks or assigning new roles and responsibilities to someone, you can convey it via email.
Additionally, if you are willing to converse with the team leader or managers about the team performance or new product updates then instead of scheduling a 30 minutes session, hop in for a quick phone call. This will not only free your calendar but also build positive rapport.
Break-Free And Quit Meeting Addiction Now!
Of course, you cannot abolish the meeting tradition once and for all but with the steps mentioned above you can curb the occurrence and intensity of the sessions. If you are unable to shake off the idea of meetings and try a different form of communication, consider pursuing a Diploma in Educational Administration and Management to create a more effective workplace.
Looking for earning an educational administration certificate? If yes then give us a call at 9830061531. You can send us an email on Email: act@asiancollegeofteachers.com / asiancollegeofteachers@gmail.com.
