Meeting Fatigue - a Symptom of Bigger Challenges
A recent client had a wonderful high-performing team that were meeting their KPI’s and responding with high engagement scores. However, informally they were reporting fatigue and showing signs of burnout.
An analysis of the way the team were spending their time revealed worrying behaviours. For example:
Over 50% of their time was spent in meetings
There was a lot of meeting double up, with multiple people from the same team sitting around the table
There were quite a few meetings scheduled out-of-hours
Although there were some very good reasons for these behaviours, for example: some meetings were scheduled with global partners in different time zones, the meeting behaviour hinted at bigger issues. These included:
A lack of trust, signs of guilt and an unwillingness to handover work in teams
A lack of role clarity
Unclear structures and processes surrounding the organization’s meeting culture
Meetings are an investment by organisations, estimated to cost over $30b in the United States – and representing a huge time commitment from staff who would otherwise be using that time to generate outputs. Yet, we all know the feeling of being in a crappy meeting. They can be exhausting, frustrating and sometimes even boring – something that countless studies reinforce.
The meeting culture in your organisation can be a simple and effective health check
It provides insight into how your strategy is being understood and executed, it sheds light on how effective supporting structures and processes are, and it reveals how your people are understanding their roles in the organisation.
What is the meeting culture like in your workplace?
As a leader - what does it tell you about your people, processes and your organization’s ability to execute on your strategy?
Need help analysing your meeting culture? Get in touch today.