Eight out of 10 managers believe most of their work meetings are unnecessary or unproductive, according to a survey by recruitment firm HTW Selection.
The poll of 2,000 managers across the UK also revealed that 82% of respondents agreed they were wasting time in at least half their meetings because they were unstructured and resulted in no defined actions costing businesses thousands of pounds every year.
David Tunna, director of HTW Selection, said good planning and preparation increased the effectiveness of meetings, which saves time and money while also helping to reduce employee frustrations.
“Create an agenda of what needs to be accomplished in the meeting, prioritise items on the agenda in order of importance, then allocate time to be spent discussing each issue,” he said.
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“Consider the time of day the meeting is being held. People are usually more creative and switched on in the morning and tend to be sluggish after lunch.”
Asking for feedback at the end of meetings and establishing timelines for assigned tasks are also good tips, Tunna said.
