The Zoomies

The 2020 exodus to home for work gave rise to a huge increase in Zoom and Microsoft Teams meetings so that we stayed in communication with each other efficiently. Today in 2023 we find many workers have gone back to the brick and mortar, while others work hybrid schedules. Some still remain at home. I think corporate culture has gone to the extreme with the meeting concept. Meetings are great methods of communication and are really essential in many circumstances to help us stay on track in carrying out the corporate mission statement.

The question that begs an answer is, "are all the meetings necessary?" Think about all of the meetings either in the conference room, Zoom and Teams we have been a part of in 2023. Were all the meetings we attended necessary? Did the meetings resolve an issue or accomplish a goal? or did they just create a need for another meeting? Secondly did ALL of the attendees NEED to be there or did we just adopt the "better be safe than sorry" approach with invitations so that nobody misses anything?

The point here is when are people supposed to have time to do their job? I asked one client I have last year that question. She is regularly involved in four or more meetings per day. Her answer-"when I get home". We spent a large part of the 80's on the topic of time management. Everybody in management had to read The One Minute Manager, keep a Day Timer etc. Much of this was driven by studies done by the auto industry in factories around Detroit. They found that workers efficiency drop exponentially after 8 hrs of work, yet the pay increased 1.5x/hr. Are your workers able to get their work done daily with your meeting regime or are they struggling? Adequate staffing is still an issue in our work place. That means that currenting staffing as to cover the positions that are vacant and still have time for multiple meetings.

Poll your people and ask them if they have enough time daily to complete the tasks they are responsible for. The next time you decide to have a meeting make sure

A. It's really necessary

B. Only the necessary people need to be invited

C. keep the meeting as short as possible

This is how I see it. Maybe your experience is different. Let me know