This could have been an email

Meeting, collaboration session, roundtable, a sit rep – whatever way you say it, in person or virtual, how many of us have sat there and said the famous words of ‘This could just have been an email’

In a recent study undertaken by Dialpad – It’s been shown that 83% of professionals spend up to a third of their work week in meetings. Even Shopify have banned any meetings over 2 people

So, why is it such a bad thing?

Money – Everyone who attends that meeting earns a salary (some more than others) it’s productive or not – they still get paid for their time.
Wasting time -You are taking time away from working on other things
Disrupting workflow –holding multiple unnecessary meetings throughout the day results in context shifting, this is when you are shifting attention across multiple different focus areas. This causes team members to lose focus, time, and effort toward valuable work.
Trying to do two things at once – trying to write an email at the same time as trying to contribute to a team’s call- this means the best effort is not put into the ether and could cause a substandard of work
Motivation – lack of contribution, resentment for having to give up part of their busy days to attend an unnecessary meeting.

When done correctly, effective meetings are great opportunities for teams to authentically connect, problem-solve, innovate, and push progress for the overall goal. But as outlined above, unproductive meetings distract employees from high-value tasks and can cause demotivation and mental fatigue in the long run.

When shouldn’t you have a meeting?

You’re just asking a simple question - a simple question should have a simple answer, if you plan a meeting around that question, it can very quickly get side-tracked and could even result in not finding an answer
Pre-meeting, Post meeting, sub-team meeting, etc – when you have sub-meetings attached to meetings – get organised- send an agenda with topics of discussion highlighting relevant people, during meetings have someone take notes and action points which can be sent out to those in attendance.
You’ve already had a meeting about the same subject matter- you may need to change your approach to get results
Can I get the same result if no one was available for a meeting?

So – when should a meeting be a meeting and when should it be an email? Here is a quick guide.

Meeting

Group meetings for brainstorming and problem-solving
Topics that require discussion, different inputs, and ideas
Planning sessions that incorporate multiple complex elements and layers.
Networking opportunities and relationship building.
When information needs to be conveyed and explained/ demonstrated – such as complex new procedures.
To have ‘face to face time’ – some mental health first aid to avoid the feeling of isolation and helps build a happier, more connected team.

Email

Simple logistics.
Standard check-ins.
Basic requests.
Information sharing.
Announcements.

Have you followed the above and decided you still need a meeting? We would love to host you -find and book the space that suits your needs best. Please email Navin or hello@xchgspaces.com to make your booking.

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