Meetings: why you’re almost definitely wasting your time
We’ve all been there: endless meetings that fail to result in anything apart from frustration and a calendar invite to a follow up meeting. According to Emma Heath, founder of copywriting agency Words By Nuance, we’re all wasting our precious time.
Like most business owners, I spend my fair share of time in meetings. Catch-ups with clients, work in progress meetings with the team, briefing sessions with writers, workshops with the accountant. Outside of work, there are even those endless meetings with my apartment strata committee, where we mill around inhaling the fragrance of the bins arguing over the existence of someone’s cat*.
What I’ve noticed over the years is that, no matter what you call them, meetings are often an enormous waste of time. I walk away feeling ripped off and frustrated, wondering what problem we were trying to solve, and how on earth we’ll ever solve it. Knowing that the answer will probably be to arrange another damn meeting.
I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. David Pich, CEO of the Australian Institute of Management, tells me that most people struggle with inefficient meetings – himself included. “Unfortunately, people tend to hold meetings without really thinking things through. They invite people who don’t really need to be there, just to cover all bases. That means you can easily end up sitting there for no good reason at all.”
Loved this article. We all know the problem but don’t seek the solution. Let software help and take away the pain points! I hated my time being wasted away in meetings so I did something about it…developed meeting software. Try minute-it.com. Spend less time in meetings and more time getting things done!