What are some common causes of unproductive meetings?
One of the primary causes of unproductive meetings in organisations is the absence of a clearly defined meeting culture.
Without educating employees and setting clear expectations about what constitutes a productive meeting, it’s unrealistic to expect them to run effective sessions.
To truly enhance meeting productivity, a consistent and holistic approach is essential. Once this foundation is in place, we can begin to address some of the common causes of unproductive meetings:
- Too many people: The more attendees in a meeting, the harder it becomes to achieve meaningful outcomes. This challenge is often seen in organisations whose culture tries to avoid anyone feeling left out by inviting everyone.
- Meetings go too long: Many meetings could achieve the same results in a shorter time. It’s surprising how often people default to the standard meeting duration set by their calendar, without giving much thought to how much time is actually needed.
- Lack of preparation: As the saying goes, "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail." Without providing context and materials beforehand, you’re setting the stage for an unproductive meeting.
- Lack of accountability: Meeting organisers must be accountable for how everyone’s time is used during the meeting, and attendees need to hold them accountable to ensure the meeting stays on track. Repeatably failing to hold productive meetings can create a culture of distrust of meetings.