Here's How to Stop 'Meeting Creep' in Your Business and Boost Productivity and Morale

Early in my career I spent several years working in Japan. Meetings consumed large chunks of my days and meant I often had to work outside of office hours if I wanted to get anything done. I particularly remember inviting my boss to a troubleshooting meeting. He asked me, "Do you need me to participate in this meeting or can I use it to sleep?"

I was shocked. I told him I wouldn't have asked him to join the meeting if I didn't want him to contribute. Looking back, that whole situation illustrates the dangers of having too many meetings. Not only did my boss regularly work late into the night (or all night), he also lost significant amounts of time to meetings he clearly did not need to be in. His solution? Using unnecessary meetings to catch up on his missed sleep.

My experience in Japan was extreme, but "meeting creep" -- which Urban Dictionary defines as a term for excessive meetings -- is a problem throughout the world. A recent Microsoft survey of 31,000 people in 31 countries named ineffective meetings as the top obstacle to productivity. Needless to say, if you run a small business, there are better ways you can handle this problem.

Is meeting creep damaging your bottom line?

One study last year showed that professionals spend over a third of their time in meetings and that organizations could save an estimated $25,000 per employee per year by reducing unnecessary meeting attendance. That could make a significant difference to your business bank account. For bigger companies with over 5,000 employees, the report estimates annual savings of $100 million. Otter.ai partnered with Dr. Rogelberg, an organizational psychologist, to carry out the investigation.

I'm not saying all meetings are bad. Meetings can be a useful way to discuss issues, build consensus, and collaborate. But they can easily descend into time sucks where a lot is said and nothing actually gets done. The trick is to know when to use a meeting, and when an issue could be better addressed by email, chat messages, or a quick one-to-one chat.

If you, like many small business owners, are struggling to hire staff, think about how many man hours you could win by helping your existing team be more productive. The Otter.ai study showed that employees could save 5.7 hours a week by skipping unnecessary meetings. For managers that figure jumps to 7.5 hours. A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation shows you could gain around three extra days per staff member every month. If you have a team of 10, that's 30 days every month.

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How to stop meeting creep

As a boss, one of the biggest things you can do to prevent meeting creep is to talk openly about the problem. Actively encourage your team to have fewer meetings and to decline those that aren't useful. If you empower people to say no, they're less likely to feel obligated and waste time as a result. More widely, push people to think carefully about who they actually need in the room. Having too many participants -- particularly those who don't have much to contribute -- can quickly make a meeting unproductive.

Take a leaf out of Shopify's book. In January, the company purged over 320,000 hours of meetings and introduced a bunch of policies designed to reduce meetings across the company. For example, it got rid of all recurring meetings with three or more employees and introduced a no-Wednesday-meetings policy.

When you do organize meetings, make sure they always have a clear purpose and structure. Send an agenda in advance so that people have a chance to prepare. It also makes a big difference if you follow up on any action points before rather than during the next meeting. And if you catch yourself inviting someone to a meeting out of courtesy, stop yourself.

Similar rules apply if the meeting is virtual, with the added etiquette of muting and careful video usage that we've all got used to. One added danger of video meetings is that people try to multitask. That might involve attending more than one meeting at once or having the meeting in the background while they do other things. I know someone who regularly attends three meetings simultaneously and doesn't properly contribute to any of them. Check out our guide on running a remote meeting for more info.

Bottom line

The pressure of too many meetings isn't good for anyone. It doesn't help your business, and surveys show it adds unnecessary stress and pressure for your team. You may not want to be as extreme as Shopify, but if you take steps to reduce unnecessary meetings, it could boost morale and make a difference to your bottom line.