Did you know that the average employee spends about 16 hours a week in meetings? According to a recent Microsoft survey in 2023, 16 HOURS!! OMG. And on top of that, 71% of employees think that 50% of those meetings are wasted time. That means there are 8 hours a week where an employee is wasting their time—and we are the culprits. Hmmm…
Do you know how much all of that wasted time is costing us? I was shocked—obviously, because I’m now writing an article about this and sharing it with all of you. According to the 2023 labor statistics, the average U.S. employee makes $27 per hour. In the tech sector, this rate is higher. Most helpdesk engineers make $25–$40/hr, L2s make $40–$60/hr, and leadership roles range from $50–$100/hr. Now, I’m not sharing my hourly wage because, as I always tell the Sunster, I’m priceless 🙂 But let’s take a manager in one of our teams.
Let’s assume $50/hr and a total of 16 hours in meetings. That’s $800, of which half is wasted time—so $400 is wasted each week. Now, if there are 50 working weeks in the year (we must take vacations, people!), that’s $20,000 worth of wasted time in unnecessary meetings. WOW. Hence why I’m sharing/venting today.
As an executive, I’m invited to a LOT of meetings, and I mean a LOT!! (Did I add enough exclamation marks to that “LOT!!!!”? Just want to make sure.) I would have to say that I agree: many of them I probably don’t need to be in, or I’d rather the leader of the department handle the situation themselves and report back during our weekly meeting. But that’s not always my luck. It got to the point where my entire day was full of meetings, and I had no time to actually work on the work that I do. So, I had to stop.
What did I do, you may ask. “Do tell, Kam…” as you wait with bated breath. Well, we implemented a new policy for people when requesting a meeting with me: They had to fill out an agenda form. You see, there can be no meeting without an agenda, and while you might think this is standard, oh no—our forms were better. The completed agenda had to include the following:
- Purpose of the meeting
- Desired outcome/decision
- Individuals that were asked to join
- Why that person was needed on the call and what their role would be
- Supporting documents for the meeting (if applicable)
I’m happy to share a sample with anyone who would like it. I can only tell you—it truly changed the number of meetings I was invited to but also changed the structure of the meetings I set. I actually started to think: Is this person required for this meeting? And if so, WHY? If it’s informational, we can just send a recap after. How are they actually contributing to the decision needed?
Remember: meetings should rarely be just informational—that’s what email is for. There needs to be a purpose. With this new structure, I was able to significantly eliminate the number of meetings I was invited to. I even implemented a Focus Friday concept, where I take no meetings on Fridays and encourage my team to do the same.
Now, as a leader, this does not mean you cut your 1:1s, performance reviews, or those crucial conversations that need to be had. It just means that every meeting you call should have thought and substance to it, and the people invited to it should be able to contribute in a meaningful way. After all, these unnecessary meetings are costing the organization a lot. It’s better to take 20 minutes to fill out the agenda than to waste 400 hours of someone’s time each year.
Moral of the story: If you need to call a meeting, make sure you have a clearly defined agenda, a purpose for everyone’s presence, and desired outcomes for the meeting. I’m sure your team and your employer will thank you for it.
