Meetings are meant to drive alignment, decision-making, and collaboration. Yet, for many organisations, they have become a silent productivity drain. Employees spend hours in sessions that could have been dashboards, or quick huddles, leaving less time for decision making and strategic thinking.
We’ve seen first-hand how poor meeting culture can erode efficiency, morale, and even strategic focus. The good news? Organisations can reclaim their time and still encourage collaboration, without unnecessary meetings.
The Hidden Costs of Meetings
- Lost Focus and Productivity
Frequent, poorly defined meetings fragment the workday. (Our studies??) Studies show that poor meeting culture can reduce productivity by up to 40%. Teams spend more time sitting in unnecessary meetings when they could be adding value, executing their work.
- Decision Fatigue
Endless discussions without clear outcomes drain cognitive energy. Teams may leave meetings confused or indecisive, creating bottlenecks and slowing decision making.
- Dilution of Accountability
When too many people attend, responsibility becomes shared in name only. Without clear roles and follow-ups, action items slip through the cracks, and projects stall.
- Cultural Friction
Overmeeting can signal distrust, poor planning, or a lack of empowerment, eroding engagement and increasing burnout over time.
How to Make Meetings Work
- Define Purpose
Every meeting should have a clear objective. Is it for decision-making, brainstorming, or alignment? If not, consider alternative communication channels. - Limit Attendees Strategically
Invite only those essential to the agenda. Smaller groups lead to faster, higher-quality decisions and give attendees more ownership over outcomes. - Start and end meetings on time
Encourage concise contributions and avoid the “catch-up” trap that extends meetings unnecessarily. - Set Clear Outcomes and Follow-Ups
Every meeting should end with actionable next steps, deadlines, and assigned owners. Documentation should be concise, easy to reference, and shared promptly. - Review and Adapt the Meeting Culture
Regularly audit your organisation’s meeting load. Identify recurring, low-value sessions and replace them with asynchronous updates or more focused alternatives. Consider whether the “weekly performance update” could be shared via a dashboard for example.
The Outside Perspective
Consultants play a pivotal role in helping organisations redesign collaboration. By bringing an outside perspective and starting from first principles, consultants can identify and help resolve the blockers of collaboration. Our consultants analyse meetings across the business, clarify decision-making processes, and embed best practice to drive accountability. We enable clients to spend less time “talking about work” and more time delivering results.
From inside the business, inefficient meetings are often invisible at first. They fall into the BAU or “We’ve always done it that way” category. But the impact is visible and significant. Organisations that optimise how, when, and why they meet not only improve productivity but also foster a culture of clarity, accountability, and strategic focus.
At Managementors Ltd, we guide clients to make collaboration purposeful, ensuring meetings serve as a tool for progress, not a hidden drain on it.
