It's time for another meeting! If you have a job, the chances are some of your working week will be taken up attending a few of them. You and your colleagues will gather together in a meeting room, be talked at for an hour and come out wondering what was the point of it? Of course, it is sometimes necessary to meet to discuss things, share information, voice your opinion and agree a way forward – but are there any other benefits?

 

Recent research has suggested that we attend more meeting than ever before – and that's more time listening and talking than actually doing our jobs. Professor Patrik Hall from the University of Malmo told the BBC that this is partly due to more "meetings-intense" roles such as managerial and strategy jobs. These require more meetings with teams and other stakeholders. But, he says, despite there being more of them, "few decisions are made".

 

It's possible that it's managers on a power trip who set up these meetings – a way of controlling staff, imposing¹ new rules and regulations and asserting their authority. But as Professor Hall points out: "Many managers don't know what to do," and when they are "unsure of their role", they respond by generating more meetings. And to make matters worse, some meetings involve a pre or post-meeting which eats into even more of the working day.

 

But the researchers from the University of Malmo have found that a meeting can be seen as a form of 'therapy' – it doesn't have to have an outcome and doesn't have to be meaningless. So, if you're just doodling or glancing at your smartphone as your boss drones on, it's worth considering that a meeting can be an opportunity to demonstrate your talents, express frustration², question ideas and spend time bonding with your colleagues.

 

There are a few things to be considered if a meeting is to be a success: it needs an agenda that is adhered to plus an opportunity to discuss any other business, and it should be booked for a short period of time – otherwise the meeting will expand to fit the time that's been allocated³. And, as Professor Hall says, the "equality" of participants is important. But I think I just prefer the advice of Elon Musk⁴, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who urged colleagues to walk out of meetings as soon as it becomes obvious that they are not adding value. "It's not rude to leave," he explains. "It's rude to make someone stay and waste their time." Right, I'm off!

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