Why you shouldn't be wasting your time in meetings

Why you shouldn’t be wasting your time in meetings

If getting work done at work is a daily struggle, you should probably try and duck out of those time-sucking corporate black holes (meetings).

June 20, 2012 4:51 by Eva Fernandes

In theory having regular meetings makes sense. Having a team gather in a room to discuss strategy should be able to streamline processes and feedback leading to improved productivity. Yet, for reasons far beyond Kipp’s comprehension, more often than not meetings end up being time-sucking corporate black holes. Not only do you leave a meeting feeling like little has been accomplished, but there is also that unbelievable sense of frustration you are likely to feel when you see all the work that has been piling up on your desk while you were ‘shooting the shit.’

Which is why, Robert C. Pozen a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at Harvard Business School recommends ditching meetings or declining meetings whenever you can: “Business meetings are a perfect illustration [of a waste of time]. Very few professionals would say that attending meetings is the best use of their time. In one survey, white-collar workers estimated that two thirds of meeting time is pure waste. I agree: all too often, information is repeated or the discussion goes off-topic. Yet, many meetings are too long, too large, and too unfocused.”

Of course, declining a meeting may be very difficult-especially in those organizations which have a preference for regular tedious meetings. If that is the case maybe you can forward this article to your boss, or even better get them to watch this video: